Predator: CityHunter
by KaterinaWinters
Summary: Amidst a terrible heatwave on Nova Hermes there is a war going on that no one can win but one. The body count is rising and public fear is at a chaotic high. While the citizens of Nova Hermes flee and the gang factions fight for control, a hunter sets his sights on one interesting human female. While she dances, the hunter watches. When she runs, he chases. And when he catches her
1. Chapter 1

Dipping her hip, Tamara let her body glide and spin to the music as she stared blankly out the five-inch reinforced Diamond plated-plexi-glass window at the airspeeders slowing down as they passed her glowing red box. Permanently cast in a hazy brown smog and perpetual darkness, Nova Hermes was surprisingly going through a record heatwave. Despite the sunlight only reaching the very tip of the top level of the city, every level all the way down to "purgatory," what citizens of Nova Hermes called the planet's ground level, could feel the pulsing heat from the boiling heatwave.

It was driving the city mad.

Wiping a sheen of sweat off her neck, Tamara closed her eyes to the sight of an airspeeder practically pulling to a stop in front of her window. Not for the first time tonight, she cursed at the damn heat. If it wasn't so hot, she would turn up the red lights that framed her window until she could barely see out making her job just a bit more bearable and a little less degrading. But she didn't. Instead she turned and leaned on the wall and slowly swayed her ass from left to right knowing how the submissive pose elongated her back and pleased the customers, all the while covertly breathing a sigh of relief at the tiny personal aircon she had stashed in the corner.

Turning around she groaned at the sight of the airspeeder still floating at her window, banking even closer now. She kept her face impassive and her eyes dead as the man activated his window and leered at her making gestures for her to turn and show more. Her top was already off couldn't this piece of shit be satisfied with that alone? The thought of her boss seeing the camera feed however filled her stomach with bile. She was one of the lowest paid women on staff at the Red Lamp Tower. Essentially, she was one of the few non sex working girls working as a real-life human billboard, to which her fat slimy boss reminded her each and every day she could be replaced with a real billboard or a synthetic who would be programmed to fuck. Meaning if she wanted to keep her low paying degrading shit show of a job then it was either panties off or get laid off.

Meeting the man's eyes for only the briefest second as an attempt of acknowledgment and seduction, Tamara focused her gaze at the colossal black and glass building across from her, past the steady stream of flying vehicles, as she pulled down her flimsy black underwear.

A warning siren sounded mutely through the thick glass barrier as the creep's car drifted dangerously close to her window. Fast jerky movements from the man in the vehicle told her without needing to look the loser was masturbating to the sight of her as she danced naked. Neon text scrolled across her window in front of the man urging him to go down a level so he could sample some real human flesh for a bargain price. But she didn't look to see if he took the bait or not, she just focused her gaze on the dark geometrical corners and lines of the building across from her. Some of the lights had winked out earlier when she started her shift, and she wondered what those people did. What kind of people worked there? Why of all places in their galaxy were they on Nova Hermes? Or were they still even here?

For the past few days now, crime on Nova Hermes had skyrocketed. News anchors attributed it to the heat wave, but more and more reports were coming out that struck fear into everyone-that there was some secret war going on that was starting to bleed up and over to the higher levels of the city. The first incidents were of explosions and mass killings of rival criminal factions. At first no one paid it any attention and some like herself took pleasure in it. Good, she had thought let them get whatever they deserve, it was assholes like that who made it a miracle she didn't die on her way home each night. But things escalated, instead of faction wars in the purgatory levels the news was reporting that there was a war **against** the criminal factions. In two days nearly all the roughest most renown criminal factions on Nova Hermes were decimated. Tamara had heard girls in the dressing room trying to console another girl, a coworker of theirs, who was found catatonic near her boyfriend's strung-up, mutilated body. All the girl could manage to say when authorities asked what she saw was the word "_ghost_." By now, nearly all of the planet's wealthy inhabitants, who lived on the upper levels, had fled to the nearby space station Delta Ring 5, while other citizens were forced to sell their belongings and scrounge up enough of their savings to get passage to a smaller planet much further out, NGC4478. Those that were left in the city were either the ones causing the chaos or people too poor to leave.

Unfortunately, the rampant and unusual escalation of crime alerted the attention to the one group that every citizen either poor or rich feared above all-the Red Blade. Nova Hermes's ungoverned militia. A group of psychopaths, murders, bounty hunters, and sadistic ex-military from all around the known galaxy working under one man, Sargent Commander Asop Rackus. As an ex-colonial marine Commander, Asop ran Nova Hermes like a tyrannical despot who had all the power and none of the weight of accountability. If Tamara had to choose between running into a random enforcer of a local grimy crime faction or a member of the Red Blade, there would be no hesitation as she ran away from the black and red soldier.

Though, her blank eyes never betrayed her feelings, she felt immense relief as the man finally finished and drifted his car down presumably to take up the advertised offer for one of the other ladies. Glancing at her personal comm unit she almost smiled at the time read out. Three minutes and the red light framing her box would automatically shut off and she could collect her meager credits and start her perilous journey back home. Leaning against the windowed wall, Tamara pressed her face to the glass, noticing even despite its thickness the glass was hot from outside. Looking up, she strained to see past the towering buildings to the smog filled sky above. Fuck, she hated this place.

She had moved here after being kicked out of her alcoholic mom's house on Marka, another dingy little planet in the same galaxy. When she bought passage to Nova Hermes, Tamara had envisioned her life going differently. She imagined a small but stable career as a programmer, freedom, and more importantly friends. Silently, she stared at her clothes folded on her bag in the corner of the booth, none of those things happened. Here she was two years later standing naked in a hot lit up box as men jerked their dicks inches away. The only programming, she had done for money was making an app for a fellow dancer that would break into his personal comm and show her all of his text from other women. And as for friends-well she realized very quickly out in the "new world" she didn't have what it took to be one of those people she saw on social feeds surrounded by friends.

A beeping sound went off and the lights to her booth blessedly powered down. Sighing, Tamara bent down and scooped up her folded underwear and stood. Her booth was dark now, nearly pitch black, allowing her to see out and no one to see in. Glancing back at the building across the way she paused.

At the edge of the building light rippled and warbled at the edge. Good God, was it _that_ hot out? Passing her gaze down the edge to the other side she didn't see the same heat wave anywhere else. Still holding her underwear in hand, Tamara stepped closer to the window again and refocused on the shimmering heat spot. Elongated instead of wide, the invisible rippling spot seemed to trail upward forever, making it a strain on her eyes to see where it ended and began. But there was definitely something there.


	2. Chapter 2

Fuck! She was going to be late. The rail line she normally took from her apartment, on the merchant levels to work, was shut down due to a huge explosion of some kind. Brightly lit holographic billboards streamed the news feeds across the buildings, public hallways, and bridges that connected the city like a spider's web. Some reports were saying it was a new terrorist group. Sargent Commander Asop's brusque tone would always follow any report cutting it short with his own recorded message on loop, assuring the citizens of Nova Hermes with an arrogant smirk that whoever it was causing this to know that they have gotten the attention of the Red Blade now. All that news successfully did was make her stomach knot. She was going to be stuck here on this forsaken planet in a middle of a goddamn war.

Tilting her comm unit on her wrist to view the time she grit her teeth, she would be at least fifteen minutes late if not more. Stuffing her fist back into her hoodie pocket, she tried to walk faster through the milling crowds staring up at the constant scrolling feeds around them. Although it was hot as hell out, she couldn't stomach the idea of wearing anything less than jeans and her lightest hoodie she owned.

Side stepping a frantic lady pulling a toddler with one hand a suitcase with the other Tamara resisted the urge to stare back at them longingly. Without a doubt she knew the mother and child were headed to the East Line rail that went towards the shipping bay. Every few hours there were ships crammed full of people fleeing the planet for safety.

She wanted to leave too. She wanted someone to take her hand and pull her safely out of this mess and away from this galaxy of hell.

Immediately the thought of the dismal number in her bank account squashed that wistful thought. No one was going to save her and above all else the ever-constant fact reminded itself of its presence: she needed money if she was ever going to break free. Picking up to a jog her sneakers hit a puddle of murky dark liquid as she crossed the diamond plated bridge to the Gravure district. Stopping her quick pace at the sight of the red windows, she took a deep breath for fortitude and turned down the alley for the side entrance.

"You're late Bew-toooo!" The thick cockney accent from her boss Packer Rosenstead, decimated the delicate pronunciation of her last name Buteau.

Keeping her eyes focused on the ground she mumbled an apology.

"I don't wanna 'ere it!" he shouted.

Everyday Packer sat on a stool near the side door and took note of everyone's entry and exit. If you were even a minute late, he would notice and make you pay one way or another. The disgusting man was the eyes and ears of the entire one hundred and forty-two floor building, micro managing everyone from their times all the way to how the girls "pleased" the customers. Instead of the traditional Madame most whore houses had, the Red Lamp Tower had Packer, their overseer.

Two more girls walked past her, wearing knee length coats in vibrant colors most likely already dressed for work underneath. Tamara would never understand those women. How could they smile and laugh when they had to live like this, when she couldn't even bring herself to look into the men's eyes that stopped in front of her booth just to watch.

As the girls laughed and waived hi to Packer, squeezing past his overhanging girth that blocked part of the door Tamara couldn't stop herself from looking up sharply at the man. They were late why wasn't he yelling at them!?

As if waiting for her to do just that Packer leaned forward and sneered at her. "What of it?! They can work off their time," he laughed evilly. "They can suck a little harder fuck a little more, am I right?!"

Packer looked over to Geno, one of the many bouncers of the tower, and laughed. Geno just gave her a mean disturbing smile at Packer's jab.

Biting the inside of her lip she averted her gaze and walked to step past him.

"I'm will be dockin' your pay gurl," Packer's mean voice echoed off the hallway as she pressed for the lift to take her to the top floor.

The changing room for her floor was unusually empty, undressing in the corner near the unused rack of clothes where the girls threw their old and tattered skimpy outfits as a kind of hand me down pile Tamara listened to the three other girls in the room talk at the makeup tables. Since most of the girls who worked there were sleeping with or so called "dating" some of the men in the criminal factions Tamara was able to hear details of what was happening in the current chaos that either wasn't making the news or someone wasn't allowing it to make the news. Official news reports were putting the death toll in the hundreds but from what she was hearing during her eavesdropping it sounded as if it was double that at least. Factions like the Young Outsiders a deadly group that had supposedly taken over the drug trade in the southeast district on nearly five levels currently had no surviving members. Scared but morbidly intrigued, Tamara edged closer as she listened to a girl who she had only spoke to on the elevator once, describe the chaos near her place as the rival faction, the Thirteen Disciples, tried to take advantage and usurp the Young Outsiders territory-they too were quickly wiped out. Unable to listen any longer without getting more of her meager pay docked, Tamara stuffed her outside clothes into her bag and filled her canister with water and headed to her booth wearing a mismatched bikini bottoms and a sparking green fringe top, all the while her thoughts stuck on the events. The media said the killings had started late last week, but that couldn't be right. There were too many people fleeing and far too many deaths. From this information and the little info, the media was giving it felt like whatever this is was had been going on silently for about two weeks now, but more importantly things were escalating. Everyone in the city could feel it in the sir, see it in the panicked look in each other's eyes that things were coming to a head for something much bigger.

Closing the door to her booth, she tried to stamp down the nauseating feeling of dread as she thought about the city getting much worse. With her light on and her music activated she absently listened, trying to relax enough to loosen up and dance.

A red and black air speeder of the Red Blade slowly flew by breaking her concentration. Leaning against the window, Tamara watched as the search lights on the vehicle moved across the buildings and over the connecting bridges.

Were they looking for someone here in this area?!

Her heart rate sped up. She wanted to think she was safe in the tower but, how could she? Though each floor was guarded by armed bouncers, trained to put down customers who got to rowdy or ex-boyfriends deciding to raise hell at their girlfriend's job haven't there been nothing but reports of entire factions armed to the teeth being wiped out?

But nothing about women and children, she thought. The only female deaths she read about on the blogs were members of the decimated factions.

A warning beep sounded in her booth and she stepped away from the window with a groan and forced herself to begin dancing again. Sensors in the booth had a two-part system, if you stopped dancing and just stood idle for over six minutes it beeped to warn you, but if it beeped again it contacted Packer.

Closing her eyes, Tamara did what she did every night and concentrated on the music. A meditation of sorts, she let her thoughts drift far across the dark skyscrapers of Nova Hermes to far away planets filled with lush rolling green hills and blue waters. Somewhere where the sun actually warmed the sky with bright light. God how she missed the sunlight. Even on shithole Marka and all its pollution, she still could enjoy a little bit of sunlight.

Opening her eyes, she noted that there was hardly in traffic out, no one slowing down to leer, no airspeeders honking at another to move out of the way; hardly anyone at all. With an unimpeded view of the building across from her she looked to the edge. Confusion chilled her as she stared at the rippling air in the same spot, she saw it in last night. Scanning along the edge she confirmed that the spot wasn't anywhere else, just in that one spot at the very end. Her dancing was now no longer something one could even consider dancing now. She was moving only just enough for the sake of the sensor. Laughter from outside her booth's door captured her attention for a split second before she turned it back to the odd heat spot-which was gone.

Narrowing her eyes, she leaned closer to the glass and focused harder on the spot. Nothing. No shimmering of air, no rippling of invisible lines, nothing at all. Wow her life was disappointing, she thought. She had probably been staring at some sort of heat vent exhaust for the past two nights now because that was how sad her life was.

God, she needed to get out more and actually talk to people, though she didn't have the foggiest idea on how. All the other girls here hated her because they thought she considered herself too good to whore-which she most certainly did. And most people on the lower levels of pergatory were on some sort of drugs which she couldn't afford even if she was interested in the chemical escape, making it impossible to connect with anyone while being eternally sober and very much encumbered by reality. While anyone not living on the lower levels would never be able to understand or relate to her obsessive need to save every single credit so she could buy a ticket off this hell planet. Besides it didn't really matter, she hated talking to people anyways. A year ago, an online doctor diagnosed her problem as selective mutism caused by high anxiety although Tamara still wasn't so sure about that conclusion she happily latched onto the theory as plenty of reason as to why she shouldn't waste her time trying to form friends in this hell hole. Maybe one day, once she was off planet and somewhere better, she would try to start again and make friends.

Suddenly the window lit up even brighter and chimed. She stilled. Looking down at the familiar holographic menu display now shining in front of her, she looked back up and out the window. There was no one out there, but the customer display was activated. On the rare occasions she caught a passerby's attention, they had the option of selecting the menu option from their airspeeder that would either darken her box and transfer the image of her to the privacy of their car or keep her on view for everyone to see as they paid for the options to make requests. Right now, the menu was activated. Something was wrong, she thought as she tried to exit the screen, this menu shouldn't even be on right now, there was no one even out there.

Her breath caught as she watched the screen change as if someone was accessing and selecting options. With a beep the option for open viewing, was selected.

Again, she looked up to the window and saw no one. Pressing herself to the glass she looked to her left and then her right straining to see farther in both directions than her booth allowed. No one, absolutely no one. Not one single airspeeder in the vicinity. It almost felt as if the city was abandoned.

A beep sounded and the option for "_top off_" was selected.

Annoyed and highly confused, she punched the button for Packer, hating that she had to.

"Wha!" His angry voice sounded over the tiny speaker at the top right hand of her booth.

"I-I think my system is acting up," she stammered, swallowing at the acidic feeling churning in her stomach for having to talk to the slimy bastard. "There is n-no one here but the menu w-went into private mode."

"Does it say it's been paid for?!" he snapped back.

"Y-yes," she stammered back in reply.

"Then fuckin dance ya moron!" he yelled before cutting the line.

Looking back at the menu, she glared at it for a couple of more seconds before looking back out at another attempt to see who was ordering her for the next half hour.

Again, she couldn't see anyone.

What if it was a hacker and they just wanted to take her video and put it on the galactic net? Logic however, immediately squashed that fear since she was sure people had taken videos on their comm devices of her fully naked as they leered and flew by. Meaning she was probably already out there somewhere on the net.

With not much of a choice Tamara reached behind her and unsnapped her top. She couldn't understand it, why would anyone want to go out of their way and look at her over the hundreds of other girls dancing in the boxes below. She never smiled, her medium length curly, brown hair was frizzy to the point of looking unkempt. She was average height, with average brown eyes, and an unmemorable face. She swore the only thing that got her the job was the fact that her boobs were bigger than average, a feature that was more of a curse than a benefit in her opinion.

Letting the top fall to the floor she began to dance but stopped. Why should she? Whomever didn't actually order a dance and technically once she was under a paid order she didn't have to dance unless the customer purchased it. Looking defiantly at the menu screen, she placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes in a "_now what_" look of challenge.

Another beep sounded and the option for "bottoms off" was selected.

"You piece of shit," she mumbled, halfway wondering if this wasn't just Packer or one of the other girls playing some sort of trick on her.

With purposely no finesse, she hooked her thumbs into the waist band of her panties and jerked them down to her feet and stood back up and stepped out. Unlike the rest of the girls she kept her pubic hair, opting for trimmed and neat instead of pubescent bare.

Glaring at the menu for a couple of seconds longer, she was starting to lose her patience.

The option for her to touch herself was selected.

Starting to become seriously angry now, she weighed the possible repercussions versus the immense satisfaction of just flipping off the menu and whoever was doing this.

Again, the current total in her bank account reminded her of its pitiful number forcing her to put her pride to the side. Lifting her hands, she automatically stared out at the spot on the building across from her booth as she did every night and tried to let her mind wonder away from this hellish place as she began to fondle her breasts.

The spot on the building shimmered again.

Freezing in place, she stood and stared at the warbling air on the ledge and watched as the hazy rippling heat wave formed into an outline of something much taller and distinct. A much more human shape, drawing her eyes naturally up the figure.

Her mind was beginning to slowly comprehend that she was staring not only at _something_ but at _someone,_ when the pair of evil green eyes flashed from the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

For nearly half an hour Tamara sat in her apartment in utter silence recalling the image of those green eyes that burned into the fabric of her mind.

What the hell was that?! Was it one of the vigilante terrorists, a term news had been throwing out lately? Again, the image of what she had seen flashed in her unwilling mind, the large warbling invisible shape leading to those glowing eyes-it didn't feel human. Even though she was separated by nearly a hundred feet and the thick diamond plated plexi glass window of her booth she could feel the unnatural aggression of the figure clearly. With just a flash of its evil upturned eyes whether it be in warning or intimidation Tamara understood all that she needed to know and responded.

She ran.

Within seconds, she shakily grabbed her discarded garments and bag, running out of the booth. She wasn't sure if the Red Lamp Tower was the next target or what but she had no intentions of finding out. Sitting now on her bed near the one large window her tiny apartment offered, Tamara tightened her arms around her drawn up legs and made herself smaller as she stared out onto the never-ending night of Nova Hermes. Packer had cursed at her as she ran past him, still dressing and shoving an arm through her hoodie after her harried escape naked from her booth. He shouted down the alley after her that there was no way in hell, she would see even one credit for today's work. He could keep his damn credits. There was something out there staring at her and every cell in her body screamed for her to run.

There would have been no point trying to share her fears with any of the bouncers or Packer. She didn't even need to turn back to look to confirm that whoever-or whatever-was invisible again, and that there would be no pair of menacing green eyes staring back for anyone she was able to drag back to her booth to show what she saw. With such a wild story, she would be labeled crazy or worse, reported to the Red Blade for suspicious activity and most likely tortured and questioned by them until she begged for death. No, her only option was to run.

Still shaky, Tamara let go of her encircling grip around her legs and slowly unfolded herself to stand. In the small space between the bed and the window, she nervously stared out the window her eyes jumping from every building ledge and passing airspeeder. Although she didn't spot the wavy heat spot anywhere it offered little comfort. Whatever it was could be invisible whenever it wanted, making all the news reports of impossible feats of carnage understandable.

Guilt suddenly thrummed through her chest as she thought of the girls at the Red Lamp Tower. Maybe she should have warned them, somehow found a way to call in an anonymous tip. But how? How could she tell anyone what she saw and truly felt in her gut, that she was quite certain whatever she saw was inhuman? The galaxy Nova Hermes was located in, Hinter Frontier 3, was as backwater as galaxies got. It was probably the only completley human inhabited planet in space. Sure everyone knew there were other creatures in other galaxies, sentient society building creatures that could either resemble humanoid features and some that weren't human at all in looks or speech, but none of that mattered for the small cluster of sad planets in the Hinter Frontier 3 galaxy, because they simply didn't have any natural species. Pocked with almost unnavigable pockets of blackholes and asteroid debris, Hinter Frontier 3 was an undesirable portion of space, it was only ever colonized by humans due to diamond-nite mining decades ago. But there was a creature here now though, she thought. She was sure of it. A creature that was killing, hunting even. A creature Nova Hermes, wasn't at all prepared to handle.

Feeling sick with guilt she grabbed her data-pad off the edge of her bed, a clear diamond-nite rectangle with a metal alloy frame. Activating it, she typed onto the red holographic keyboard that appeared beneath her fingers and pulled up the news feeds for Nova Hermes. Scouring the blogs, the official and unofficial news feeds, and social media feeds she confirmed what she had concluded before: there were no reports of the vigilante terrorist attacking regular civilian women or any children. None of the girls at the Red Lamp Tower were enforcers in any of the factions, not like the women that were reported dead in the list of reported deaths. Tamara almost let herself relax and breathe easier from the sudden attack of guilt, until her search led her to pictures someone posted in a private chatroom of the latest mass murder of one of the factions. Cold terror iced over her veins and her heart rate picked up like the rapid beats of a war drum. Naked, mutilated Bodies of men were strung up from the rafters. Some had no skin, one had no head and spine, while some were perfectly intact. Hastily, Tamara swiped the screen to shut it off. Standing up, she walked to her small kitchenette area near her bathroom and pressed her food storage unit for a glass of water. Her hands trembled as she reached for the now filled glass. My God, this was why everyone was fleeing!

She had to get out of here. Turning to sit back down on the edge of her bed, since her apartment wasn't big enough for a sofa, she drank the rest of the water and stared bleakly out the window. The fact was, no matter how much evidence and reports came out supporting her instincts to flee there was no option to do so until she could pay the minimum three thousand credits for passage. But how could she go back to work after what happened tonight? Whatever that thing was it had toyed with her, hacking into their system, and forced her to undress for it. No, she couldn't go back to work, not right now, not until things calmed down a little.

Staring out the window, she watched a few airspeeders glide by. At this time there was normally thousands of airspeeders out right now, all coming and going on the busy airlane situated in front of her window; but not now. Counting a few, Tamara stood up and looked down at the lanes below her floor which was on the hundred and second, she estimated there were less than a hundred. Pretty soon whatever it was, wasn't going to have much left to kill.

#

Crouched on the corner of the building, diagonally from the female human's building, he watched her for some time. Sitting there, she quietly stared out the window before eventually moving silently through her small living unit. Switching the readouts in his helmet, he watched her heart slowly begin to calm as she let the feeling of safety relax her. How could hiding in a small, unprotected square living domicile be protection?

She was unlike anything he came here to hunt. A standard human female with no combat training or skills of survival. He was resting from his hunt when he noticed her. Alone and separated from the other women, he watched in boredom at the female's stiff lackluster movements. For nights he had watched her, his eyes tracking hers as she stared out from her box blankly, unseeingly into the distance as she danced in the illuminated box. He watched her as she went home each night, dressed in heavy clothing hiding herself from the people around her, willingly not interacting with any of her kind unless forced. To be certain, he checked his readouts and confirmed she was no synthetic despite her face never changing from the same blank expression. She was unlike any human he had seen. It irritated him how much this odd human intrigued him.

Slowly, a red and black vehicle hovered between him and the human's place of residence, breaking his concentration from the female. Six spotlights, three on each side, moved up and down the buildings as it searched for him. Allowing the light to shine over his cloaked form, the readouts in his helmet indicated the light contained evincing-ions that exposed cloaking camouflage.

The pathetic human light did nothing to his superior technology. Passing over him without pause the vehicle slowly moved past, continuing their search.

After a week of making his presence known, his target finally recognized his adversary and was taking nessacary precautions. This hunt was just beginning.


	4. Chapter 4

A shrill horn blared outside of her window causing Tamara to jump. She had been lying on her bed scouring the galactic net for possible smuggled seats on a ship out of Nova Hermes. No such luck so far. Getting up, she walked over to the one and only window to her small cube shape in her apartment and activated the pressurized lock on the window. With a sucking sound the seal around the window released before slowly opening the glass window. Hot air blew in around her as the airspeeder pulled in close to her open window. Activating his own window, it revealed a young man wearing nightvisors, glasses that helped people see better through Nova Hermes's perpetual night.

"Tamara Buteau?" his asked briskly.

Not bothering with trying to shout over the loud whine of his engines, Tamara activated her ID on her comm unit on her wrist to display the holographic identification.

Giving her a curt nod, he reached over into his passenger seat and grabbed her delivery before handing her the heavy plastic sack.

"Thumb signature," the request came off as brusque demand from a man who had plenty of more stops after this and wasn't interested in taking any more time.

Pulling up the acknowledgment agreement on her comm unit she pressed her thumb on the round glass faceplate of her wrist unit, agreeing to the delivery. Without so much as another word the man activated his window again and pulled off with a revving whine of his engine and a gust of hot air. Latching her own window to reseal, Tamara grabbed her bag and turned to take the necessary four steps to her kitchenette area.

Normally, she would never have paid for the extra fee for delivery of her groceries but these weren't normal times. With the chaotic faction wars, the near lawless state of the city amidst the panic, and the police and Red Blade being spread so thin, crime was on the rise. Reports of women being accosted on their way homes, people being robbed, and stores being looted it was just too dangerous to take any chances trying to go to her usual bodega for groceries.

Unpacking all the food and storing it away, Tamara turned and leaned on the counter. Wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and a black tank top she sighed at the aircon unit above which was working hard to re-cool her tiny apartment after the window being open. With her hair in a bun on the top of her head the air felt good around her neck. Though she hated this city, she did love her apartment. It was small and economical but it was all hers. With the bathroom to her left, the front door was to the right of that. Following the wall around from the door was a cluster of built in shelves and cupboards blending into the wall before coming to her bed which was directly across from the door. Most people complained about the size of these type of units, though most people tried to squeeze a couch and a table in them as well. Which made no sense at all in her opinion. Firstly, she would never waste the money. The last thing she wanted was to try to personalize this place, if she did that it felt like it would mean she had given up on her plans on somehow leaving. And secondly, without the extra pieces of furniture she had two sections of clear floor space: one in front of the door leading to the side of her bed and one at the foot of her bed leading to the kitchenette.

Glancing at her wrist unit, she swiped away the missed calls from Packer. Most likely wanting to demand a reason why she didn't come into work today. She didn't respond to his calls. She didn't even know where to begin. Tamara couldn't very well tell him why she was too terrified to set foot back into her booth. Nor could she describe the barely visible form she saw and the piercing malevolent eyes that shined back at her even in her dreams. Hugging herself, she closed her eyes and tried to push the thought from her mind, something she had been doing all day now.

It was ten thirty, normally she would have been into work by now. Closing her eyes, she took a few moments to appreciate the quiet. Lately, she realized that when she came home, she never turned on her TV nor any music. Being forced to listen to music and dance for eight hours changed if not tainted her relationship with music. Now the sheer sound of silence was what she craved. Grabbing the discarded plastic bag, the groceries were delivered in, she grabbed her trash can and quickly sorted the burnable trashes. Walking to her door, she pressed the view button which made the door seemingly invisible, turning it into one giant viewfinder to the hall directly outside. No one was out there. Activating the door, she stepped out into the quiet hall. For the past few days she had watched people leaving down the elevators with suitcases in hand, fleeing like the rest of the citizens. Out of the twenty units in her hall she and two other people were the only ones still left. At the end of the hall, she stopped at the trash shoot and opened the hatch to drop off the trash. The sound of the hatch door closing seemed to reverberate down the empty hall, adding to the overall eerie feeling.

Hurrying back inside her apartment the door slid shut behind her and she pressed the locking button, satisfied at the responding mechanical sound. With every intention on grabbing a handful of the pretzels she just bought, Tamara paused at the humid feeling in the room. Looking at the thermostat on her wall she frowned at the reading. It was three degrees warmer now than it was moments ago before she left. Looking up to the aircon unit above she could hear it whirring and working. Puzzled she looked to the window. The latch glowed a dull red, signifying it was unsealed and unlocked. She could have sworn she locked it when she got her groceries. Annoyed, she walked over and pushed the latch back into place and watched it seal again, confirming this time that the latch turned green. Once it was sealed no air could escape out and none could seep in, it also activated a visor mode that allowed tenants to see out but no one could see in no matter how close they pulled up to the window.

Turning back around to the kitchenette, she froze.

Wavy limpid currents danced in the air a few feet ahead of her in front of the bed and in the path of the door. Just like the past two nights, she helplessly watched and slowly registered the quivering air form into something completley forgein. Incredibly tall and wide, Tamara's lips parted in silent dazed fear as the shape became human like. With one last undulating pulse the figure appeared fully, its eyes flashing a bright green before blinking off. Once her mind eventually identified that this was not human and it took in no further details, only signaling every cell in her body to react.

She wasn't sure if she screamed, though distantly she heard a sharp keening noise somewhere and could only assume it was from her. Her chest burned with the sudden onslaught of panicked fear as she hopped up and over her bed towards the door. An inhuman growl shook the air, as her right foot then the other hit the floor. This time she was positive she screamed as the sound confirmed exactly what she feared, there was a monster in her home! Only two steps and she would be at the door. Reaching for it, Tamara felt herself being jerked back and upwards, away from the door. Screaming and kicking wildly, she clawed at the thick meaty arm around her stomach. Unbothered by her attacks the arm nor the attacker responded to them. She felt herself being swung around with dizzying speed before felt the arm come away and her body being launched briefly in the air. Her scream was cut short as the wind was knocked out of her as she fell with an ungraceful hard thump onto the bed.

Scrambling upright Tamara looked back at the huge creature who stood near the end of her bed staring down at her with bright menacing eyes. Moving as fast as she could, she swiped at her wrist unit to dial the authorities. Letting out another piercing roar, the creature grabbed her arm and yanked her forward on the bed until she was practically on her stomach. Ignoring her piercing frantic screams, the creature wrapped its clawed hand around her small wrist just tight enough to where she could feel her wrist comm crush against his hand and her wrist.

Letting her go the creature stepped back.

Pulling her arm back, Tamara cried at the dull ache radiating through the fine bone as she clambered back against the headboard of her bed. Staring at the _thing_ standing near the edge of her bed, her mind felt as if it was shattering under the impact of what she was seeing. Tall, so impossibly tall. It felt as if her eyes never stopped traveling up the thing's long muscular form. Its scaly pale green skin along the front of its abs and darker green speckled skin along the top of his forearms and flanks was jarring a reminder of its inhumanity against its seemingly human shaped body. It somewhat reminded her of the lizard like creatures that lurked in swampy lakes.

The monster didn't say anything, it just stood there staring down at her through what she could now tell had to be some sort of mask over its large oddly sloped head. Draped its sloping head were long black rubbery appendages almost like thick dreadlocks, each one decorated with gold metal bands.

Unable to look at the blank eyes of the mask, she stared down at the overlapping plates on its armored dark gold greaves that covered its knees, and left its strong thighs exposed. Seconds ticked by miserably but still it said nothing. Staring at the floor now, her body tense under the agony of waiting, she could see the slight movement of its abs as it breathed calmly.

"Wha-what do you want from me?" she whispered in such a low voice she could barely hear herself.

A deep primal clicking noise emanated from the giant seven-foot plus creature, making her fear spike even higher. The noise sounded like the noises she heard when she watched videos of people exploring faraway jungle planets. Woodpeckers, tree frogs, or maybe another type of bird: all those things could emit a similar rapid clicking sound that could echo eerily through a forest draped in darkness. Pulling herself into a tighter ball against her headboard, Tamara lowered her head further in cowering fear until she could only see the creature's clawed bare feet. Panic threatened to reduce her to hysterical crying but something in her, maybe self-preservation, told her to resist. Instinctively, she knew that the monster would most likely not react kindly to her breakdown. Allowing herself only silent tears, Tamara bit her bottom lip to ensure she made no further sound.

Raising its foot, Tamara watched withheld breath as it stepped backward. Somehow none of the four thick black claws on its toes clicked against the metal floor. Without making any sound the creature moved to the end of her bed and stood in the clear space between her bed and the kitchen area. Carefully, she looked up and her breath caught as her eyes met the blank eye shields of his mask. Was he staring at her or was he looking elsewhere? Though the question was valid her stomach knotted somehow even tighter, because she already knew the answer.

Carefully the green, scaled creature began to reach behind him, grabbing something before bringing it around. The whimpering noise sounded from her throat before she could stop it as she stared at the short spear like weapon in its hand. Her arms and legs felt suddenly heavier and her head swam as the feeling to faint washed over her senses. Tightening her fists into the covers she held onto her lucidity with all her strength as she watched the creature lower the weapon to the floor laying it down. Again, it repeated the action with round circular looking devices before removing both of the heavy bronzish gold gauntlets on each of its wide green forearms.

Tamara's mind raced as she stared at the creature. Would it use those weapons on her? Was this like some of the horror movies she had seen where the killer toyed with their victim first before torturing them? Her body was beginning to feel weak from the stress of her fears. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared at the monster and waited for its next move.

Removing another item from behind him, where she could only assume it was attached to its armor, it pulled out an oddly shaped item before laying it on the end of her bed. She held her breath as she watched the thick clawed hand press the item with a slow deliberate movement. With a pressurized release the container opened with a pop causing her to jump in alarm. With her heart pounding at what had to be dangerous levels she watched as the creature grabbed a silver item from the small container.

Her fear spiked for a moment before settling back down a little as she noticed that the odd silver device looked somewhat familiar. Frowning in confusion, Tamara watched as the thing brought the device to its left shoulder and stopped over what must have been, from what she could tell, some sort of wound. Just underneath the dark gold shoulder piece of the creature's armor was a round puncture in its skin that oozed an impossibly bright green substance. Was that neon green stuff its blood? It was so bright she was positive it glowed. Now that she noticed that one, she realized there were other various wounds up and down the big creature's body.

*thunk* Startled she looked back up to the thing whose head was turned towards its work as she realized it was stapling its wounds together. *thunk* *thunk**thunk* It continued to staple, causing her to wince a little each time at the thought of the immense pain it must cause to have to staple your skin together.

Completley ignoring her now the creature turned around, putting its back to her as it continued its first aid procedure. His back was just as defined as its front, she noticed, with muscle striations leading down to its narrow waist and up to the rippling expanse of muscle that disappeared under its armor. Tamara knew now without a shred a doubt the thing was male. Even beyond its seemingly male humanoid body the natural aggression and simultaneous interest it had taken with her screamed at her instincts that it was definitely male.

Noticing that there were more wounds on his back to keep it busy, she realized this was her chance to run while the thing was busy doctoring itself. Looking to the door, she looked back to the creature who was still focused on himself. Carefully, she pulled one leg out from beneath her. Each movement seemed to take forever as she tried to be virtually silent as she readied herself. With one leg free, Tamara stared at the creature's wide shoulders as she leaned back a bit to unfold her other leg from underneath her. Biting her lip, she paused every few seconds before eventually freeing it. Now with both legs free, she pushed them carefully over the side of the bed until her toes touched the floor.

Tightening her entire body, she braced both palms on the edge of the bed preparing to launch herself with one great push to lunge for the door.

The creature paused, its head still tilted down and its dread-like apendages covering its profile but she could sense its sudden stillness. Her heart thudded with great big pounding thumps in her chest as she waited and stared.

"If you run, human," it spoke so low it froze the blood in her veins. "I will catch you."

The whispered rasp of its voice was the most terrifying thing she had ever heard. Deep but not really. It was just loud enough for her to hear it in the silent room but soft and scratchy in a way that was horrific.

Trembling in hopeless terror all the strength she had been storing up to run with left her body at the knowledge that this thing could speak.

Weakly she asked. "Please, just tell me what you want from me?"

The creature said nothing. A few moments passed and she figured he wasn't going to say anything else. Turning she prepared to take her previous post on the bed, huddled against the headboard, when his low whispered voice stopped her.

"Come here."

Her body seized at the idea of getting near the thing. Shaking her head, she began to scoot back faster on her bed. As if sensing her reluctance, he turned his head witch a quick, violent snap that caused the whip like apendages of his head to arc in the air with the sudden movement. Releasing a low growl undercoated with that jungle like clicking noise she heard before, she knew instinctively the nonverbal sound was a clear warning-a threatening warning.

With trembling movement, she slowly peeled herself away from the safety of her headboard and cautiously walked over to the creature stopping nearly three feet away. Though, she knew the tiny distance would do her no good if the tall creature did decide to attack. Turning slightly, he looked over his right shoulder at her, the unlit eye shield of his mask staring at her with absolute menace. Holding out his right arm, he held the silver medical stapler in his hand.

It took her a few moments to comprehend his silent demand.

"What, no…I-I cou-couldn't," she stuttered, backing away from the device. "I don't know how, I n-never done…"

The deep threatening growl that vibrated through her chest and down to her feet cut off her explanation with an involuntary strangled squeak of terror.

Shakily, she reached for the stapler, careful to avoid touching his hand. With an angry grunt he turned and presented its back to her. Again, she noted the round wound under his right shoulder and another farther below that one that was long and jagged, both of them oozing green blood. Though he seemed to have many various wounds the creature really didn't seem all that fazed by them. He treated them almost in a chore like manner rather than a manner of urgency.

Lifting the stapler, she pressed both of her lips together to keep from whimpering at the sight of her own badly shaking hand. She couldn't do this! She was going to end up stapling everything else but the wound and then he would certainly kill her. She needed to try something else.

"Umm," she stepped back and then took a step around him as she avoided his gaze looking to the kitchen. "Let m-me just get a towel, sss-so I…"

The sudden grip on her upper arm pulled her to a yanking stop. Looking up at his masked face with terrified eyes she could feel herself shrink under the reverberating rumble of his anger.

"I need to clean it," she forced herself to speak quickly. "I can't see what I am doing. I ju-just want to get some water and a towel." The words ran all together and she wasn't even sure he understood her.

They both stood quiet for a few beats of a second before he let her go, all the while staring at her wordlessly. Hesitating for a moment, she took his sudden inaction as permission. Going to her sink, she ran the hot water and grabbed a bowl from the lower shelf. Pulling out her only two dish towels from the drawer she saw the gleam of her cooking knife. Ignoring the potential weapon, she grabbed her supplies and turned. Somehow, she knew if she grabbed that knife this creature would no longer watch her silently. He would react-violently.

Going back to her assigned spot, the creature gave her an unreadable stare before turning around again.

Setting her bowl down on the floor next to one of his various weapons she looked back up at his back.

"I don't think I c-can reach you properly," she admitted, praying he would not be frustrated at her.

Without a word he lowered himself gracefully to the ground sitting cross-legged with his back to her still. A little relieved she lowered to her knees and faced her task. Dipping the towel in the warm water, she wrung it out a little before pressing it lightly against the large wound. She winced for the creature as she carefully ran the towel against the serrated edges of the wound. If it hurt him, she couldn't tell, he made no sound or any movement. Wiping around the wound she leaned in closer to examine it. Judging by the round shape and the almost pattern like tearing of his thick hide-like skin she guessed he was probably hit with a hollow-point pulse shot, an illegal type of pulse weapon that was designed to purposely tear the flesh upon impact.

Wiping the wound as clean as possible, Tamara grabbed the stapler. God, she dreaded this. Grabbing the skin as best she could with one hand, she tried to push the tough muscled flesh together as best she could before pushing in the first suture with a sickening *thunk*. Pausing she waited for the creature's reaction. Nothing. Nodding to herself with a deep exhale, she pressed on with three more sutures.

Moving to the next more jagged wound, she realized some of it was under his "hair." Gingerly, she picked up one of the thick dreads between her fingers and paused. It felt exactly as she imagined it would feel: thick, tubular, and rubbery. Moving the surprisingly weighty dreadlock, she resisted the urge to examine it further to its root. Placing it over his shoulder followed by a few more she made room for herself to work. After successfully cleaning the second wound she tried to replicate her hold from before, to pinch the scaled skin together but was unable. Frustrated she sat back on her heels and thought for a moment.

"Can you move your right arm back?" she asked tentatively.

Surprisingly he complied, pushing his arm back a bit allowing her to get some of the skin in her grip. Making sure not to gather too much she stapled the wound. Signaling that he could put his arm back forward, she quietly began to clean a few smaller cuts she saw, hoping that her stalling would somehow lead to him not killing her.

His body was so hard. The skin benath her hands had no give, no natural softness like human skin. It was as if it wasn't even real. Maybe this was all just a dream, she mused? This creature couldn't be real right? It had to be a suit of some sort, an elaborate synthetic or android maybe. The blazing heat that radiated off him however, destroyed that theory. The slow rise and fall of his massive shoulders as he breathed added to the pile of undeniable facts this thing, this creature, was very much real.

Working silently, she noticed that his body was covered in various old scars, mostly healed over leaving only discolored marks. Just what did this thing spend its time doing? Did it go to planets killing scores of people often?

Outfitted in what looked to be a bronzish gold armor he kind of reminded her of ancient civilizations from old planets where their citizens covered themselves in the ornate gold jewelry. The round, dark gold metal collar around his neck reminded her of ancient pharaohs long forgotten. The matching metal bands that decorated each of his rubbery dreadlocks made him look like some sort of monstrous pagan god. Wearing a skirt like belt around his hips, the armor oddly didn't cover very much, leaving his muscular thighs exposed while an intricately weaved and braided metal piece hung between his legs adding to the tribal appearance. And though his armor gleamed with a dull regal note, there was no mistaking that the armor was aid for killing purposes. Marks and gouges peppered the worn and battle used alien metal with a telling history.

This was some sort of killing god, she surmised. Tamara could only pray he would spare her.

Feeling the muscles in his back suddenly flex under her touch, she heard his thick black claws click against his faceplate. From her position she watched as his thumbs slipped under his chin and his forefingers went behind his ear. With a click and a sudden release of pressurized air, the faceplate was disconnected. Too scared to look she sat back onto her heels and watched as his right hand laid the faceplate gently down with the rest of his weapons.

Rapid and louder than before the primal clicking noise seemingly echoed in the room.

Slowly, the creature stood with its back to her. Not wanting to be at any more of a disadvantage than she already was, Tamara quickly stood too. Fear spiked through her as her stomach twisted into tighter knots of dread. Her heart was beating so fast it was all she could hear, she knew it had to hear it too. Deliberately it turned, facing her completley.

Why wasn't she passing out? That was the first thought that ran through her head with clarity. With her head tilted back she stared up at its face taking in every nightmarish detail. From the heavy slope of its bulbous head to the deep set of his tiny green glowing eyes. Though all of that paled in comparison with its mouth. Never would she have had imagined such an abominable sight. Concaving, tusked mandibles flexed slightly as he watched her absorb the impact of his appearance, revealing a sharp fanged mouth beneath.

Tamara felt her head begin to swim and her arms and legs feel so heavy she knew she was close to fainting. Unable to stand anymore she backed into her bed and let her shaky legs finally release until she was sitting at the bed's edge. At no point did the creature take his eyes from hers as she moved. The tiny black pupils of his bright green eyes watched her from the deep shadows of his jutting browbone. Miniature spikes similar to the rubbery material of his dreads edged along the ridge of its pronounced browbone and up and around the sloped edges of his head.

"Wh-what are you?" she whispered, before she even gave her time to think of how wise it was to even ask such a question.

"I am yautja," again its terrible scratchy whispered voice made her frown. For something so large surely it would have a much deeper more booming voice, right?

Thinking of his answer, she could not recall at any point in her life hearing about yautja. Or was he saying that was his name? She couldn't be sure.

Glancing around she tried to think of another tactic. "What do you want with me?"

Moving a hand to his belt, he pulled out a familiar looking metal card. Red flashy lettering and a holographic photo of a dancer the familiar microchip card was the Red Lamp Tower's business card membership card. Clients flashed the card to the bouncers to gain entrance and scanned the card to make purchases.

It all clicked into place now. From the private order he made with her in her booth to now. He wanted her or more specifically her body.

Panicked fear reawakened inside of her as she scrambled backward on the bed with her arms out. "No, no, no," she cried. "I don't do that, I don't…please!"

The ridge of the creature's brow lowered in anger over his eyes. Leaning forward she could see his hand beginning to reach for her and Tamara knew he intended drag her back across the bed.

Crouched on the far corner of her bed she held both hands up and closed her eyes, praying he would listen. "Please, stop!" she begged. "I am not like the others. I don't take clients I just dance. Please."

The low displeased growl shredded the last bit of hope of making it through this alive. Clenching her eyes shut she dropped her forehead to her drawn knees and wrapped her arms around her legs and prayed.

Silence permeated the air.

Seconds stretched into minutes until she finally summoned enough courage to look up.

He was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Tamara felt as if she was dead on her feet. Last night after _**it**_ left, she just broke down crying. All the throat constricting, panicked fear that she had compartmentalized away for her own safety while the creature was in her apartment came flooding back at once. She cried for what felt like hours leaving her an exhausted wreck. But how could she sleep?! How could she sleep in a place where some sort of seven-foot monster just stood at the edge of her bed making no uncertain sexual demands? No, it was impossible. She had stayed up the rest of the night just staring at her window half leaning, half crouched against her headboard trying to vigilant and aware in case it returned. Then what, she had thought the whole time, what was she going to do if he did return because she knew deep down it would. Scouring the forums one last time she found a small ship and crew willing to take people off the books to a nearby space station a few galaxies away. The post made no attempt to sugar coat the possible dangers of the trip, it was one of the reasons that made her believe this one out of all the others just might not be a slaver ship looking at Nova Hermes's sudden exodus of its population as a way to get free "supplies." It said that the trip would be long, cramped, and food rations would be sparse. It sounded awful, but did she really have a choice?

Packing up her things, Tamara glanced around her tiny apartment with blurred watery eyes. Dozens of thoughts of doubt swarmed around in her mind as she thought of how she was going to start a new and safe life in a new galaxy. Would there be any jobs left after so many people flooded over? Probably not, she glared at the ceiling as dark negative thoughts infiltrated in between the cracks of her doubt like sand. No, there would probably be only more sex work, and this time there most likely wouldn't be any safe position like she had at the Red Lamp Tower. But what choice did she have? If she stayed…that creature would come back and tear her apart.

With two small bags packed and dressed in her usual black jeans, tank top, and oversized hoodie, Tamara made her way to the east space port. There were to shipping ports on Nova Hermes, one for goods and one for people. The east port, which was for importing and exporting goods, was much larger than the west location but it was far less regulated in terms of safety. Dock three hundred and forty six, looking down at her ancient handheld comm device, her only form of replacement for her broken wrist unit, she looked back up at the confusing signs along the wall. Where was dock three hundred and forty-six? Nothing was user friendly on this port, everything was designed for unmanned loaders to scan the codes along the base of the wall and automatically go to the destination for unloading and loading. There were only a few spots, few and far between the long black metal halls and grated metal suspended bridges that had posted numbered signs meant for the few humans that did work at the port and even those were near impossible to decipher. Beneath her, auto-loaders and hydraulic-lifts systematically went through their pre-programmed jobs zipping down the long corridors at high speeds barely missing other bots doing the same job, all dutifully carrying their cargo. While above were remote piloted drones doing the same job for the ships at upper levels, easily navigating through the heavy steam clouds that the ships produced. Only on the middle level, where she was currently, were the human and synthetic operated levels.

Checking the lousy directions on her comm once more, Tamara turned down the hallway and stopped at the corner. Looking over the railing below her and glancing above, warning bells went off in the back of her mind. Unlike most of the other docks which all three levels were filled with ships and loading bots, this dock was empty except for one small cruiser class vessel. About fifteen people stood outside the ship all huddled around the door, all speaking urgently to the three men standing near the ship's drop-down bay door. They had to be the crew, Tamara guessed, watching the imposing men scan the desperate looking people's comm units, presumably checking ID's and taking payments. This didn't feel right. There were too many signs telling her this was all wrong. Keeping her hoodie pulled around her head, Tamara shouldered her bag higher onto her shoulder as she watched the ship's crew curtly accept the payments and roughly shove the people up the ramp into the dark recess of the ship. No, she couldn't do this. Her gut was telling her this was all wrong. These people didn't sound anything like the supposed pilot in the post that simply wanted to help out and make a few extra credits on the side. Backing away, Tamara jumped at the sudden shrill sound of alarms going off on the dock. Looking up, she could see the emergency lights pulse and flash a bright white before pulsing to a blaring red.

_"Stop what you are doing, you are under arrest. I repeat stop where you are." _The familiar deep tone of the Red Blade's automated speaker went off around the dock.

Immediately, everyone panicked. Breaking out in all different directions the awaiting passengers ran down the various suspension bridges just as men in red and black uniforms repelled down from the ship with the Red Blade's insignia emblazoned on the side, hovering slowly down above the parked vessel of the smuggling ship. Not waiting a second longer, Tamara turned from her corner and quickly darted back down the personnel hallway she came from. Her footsteps pounded against the metal bridge and she prayed no one would hear them as they echoed off the halls. Reaching the exit Tamara never thought she would ever be as happy as she was now to see the dark amber gray skies when she emerged from the docks. Weaving through the working auto loaders she made her way to the entrance gate.

"Hey, you! Stop!" A man's shout turned her blood into ice.

Turning to glance over her shoulder, Tamara only needed to see the partial flash of a red uniform in order to react. Clutching her bags tighter, she ran as hard as she could across the bridge that led to the port and back into the main city.

"Stop!" He shouted again, audibly angrier now.

Her hoodie came off and her wild, brown curls bounced chaotically around her head as she tore down the street and hooked a hard left down a narrow alley which connected to a busier street ahead. Her worn boots splashed through a puddle and her bags jostled uncomfortably on each shoulder as she ran. Pounding footsteps behind her signaled the man wasn't too far behind her now.

Oh God! She forced her burning legs to run faster as memories of rumored accounts of what some of the Red Blade's officers did to women they arrested ran through her head.

"Stop you fucking bi-" his angry scream clipped off abruptly. But regardless it was closer now-much closer than before.

Fear bubbled inside her nearly making her scream. She was so close, just a few more steps and she would be out of the alley and onto the hopefully busier street. Running through the open space and onto another glass bridge Tamara nearly ran into a man. Offering a hurried apology, she didn't wait to turn around and see if she was still being followed, she just ran.

The sound of metal cord winding around metal with tremendous speed went unnoticed by the female-his female. Dangling suddenly by his neck sixty feet in the air, the human male's eyes conveyed the normal spectrum of emotions as he stared back at him with bulging eyes: shock, fear, desperation. With the cord in one clawed hand he observed the weak human for a few seconds longer before jerking it tighter with one hand. The cord cinched around the man's neck, sawing into his flesh with circular force until his separated head and body freefell to the ground below.

Pressing the lock to her door, Tamara dropped her bags to the floor with a ragged cry. She was never going to be able to leave this fucking city. The sudden realization made her nauseous. Out of breath, she stood there for a few minutes letting the burning ache in her muscles subside. Running a hand through her now wild curls, she unzipped her hoodie and threw it on the bed. Tilting her head back she closed her eyes as she let the air from the aircon cool her heated skin. Somehow, she had out ran the Red Blade officer, losing him two sectors over. Thankfully she was positive he didn't see her face. Often times when people tried to run from the Red Blade, they would announce their target's info in full over their personal or airspeeder's intercom, simply telling whomever that it was pointless to run since they had all their details already. Taking another deep breath of the cool air, Tamara turned and eyed the window. Now she was back at square one.

Maybe it wouldn't come again, she thought hopefully. Turning around she thought of something and went to her bathroom. Grabbing the tiny broom, she kept in the corner, she unscrewed the long metal handle from the base. But just in case, she thought, she would try everything at her disposal to protect herself. Going to the window, she inserted the metal broom handle into the sliding track of the window. Reaching for the lever, she tried to pull the window open-it stopped one inch in, blocked by the pole in the track.

Nodding, she exhaled deeply. She needed to calm down, looking down she held out her hands and watched the effects of her earlier adrenaline still course their way through her shaking hands.

A piercing buzz bounced off the walls of her apartment making her jump. Petrified to the spot, Tamara looked around in panic. The buzz went off again, this time being cut off mid buzz only to be overlapped by another one.

It was her doorbell. Not once had she ever needed to use it since she moved in, she had forgotten what it sounded like. Still the knowledge of the sound's origins did little to help her fear. What if it was the Red Blade officer? Her breathing increased as she realized she hadn't been as evasive as she originally thought.

The buzzing stopped.

For a few seconds, she let the small kernel of hope float through her at the thought of the person simply giving up and leaving.

Then the banging began. She could hear the fist being beaten against her metal door from the other side.

Though she knew they couldn't hear nor see her Tamara crept silently to the door, just enough so that she could press the viewfinder button. Becoming one large screen her door seemingly disappeared leaving her to see Geno standing on the other side staring directly at her as if he could actually see her.

Her stomach knotted at the sight of the furious looking bouncer.

"TAMARA, OPEN UP!" He yelled. "I know you are in there, you never go fucking anywhere so just come out. Packer wants you back to fucking work."

Taking a step back, she heard a sound behind her. Whirling around she watched in horror as the window seemingly opened itself and stopped at the barricade of the pole. Slowly the window closed back again. There was just one beat of hesitation before she watched the window slam open, crumpling the cheap metal broom pole. Tamara stood still, frozen to the spot in the middle of the room, as she felt rather then saw the presence enter the room. Again, as if no one was there, the window shut itself softer this time closing until the latch signaled it was locked again. Light shimmered and danced as the outline of the massive creature appeared first then blinking away entirely revealing the gold armored monster.

"Fine, you want it the hard way, fine. I warned you," Geno snarled from behind her, turning her attention away from the killing god towering before her, she looked back at the bouncer. Taking something from his pocket, Geno held it to the lock at her door.

"Oh God," stepping away from the door she watched in horror as Geno began to hack her lock.

It was device only the Red Blade should own, though it wasn't unheard of that some criminal factions had gotten their hands on it.

Why was Geno doing this? Packer didn't care if she came to work or not, he always made it perfectly clear he only allowed her to strip in the top boxes because he didn't like to see them empty.

The creature behind her moved closer, his attention shifting to the man at the door as well. Turning back to him, Tamara eyes followed his arm as it raised from his side. Curling his long clawed fingers into a mighty fist, she jumped as long twin blades sprung from its gantlet on command. With deep serrated grooves, the twin blades conjured up a million deaths in her mind.

Tamara held up both hands at the creature. "Please, don't."

Tilting his head to the side, she felt the pulsating rumble of his displeased growl.

Hurriedly, she tried to explain. "If you kill him it would only get the attention of my b-boss who will then inform the Red Blade." Her pulse spiked as she heard her lock beginning to respond to Geno's hacking. The massive creature took one step forward, the eye shields of his mask pulsing a threatening bright green. Both of her palms flattened against his carved torso as she tried to reason with him. "Please, if y-you kill him, you will eventually l-leave and I will have to face the Red Blade by m-myself," and she would never survive their "interrogation" she silently added.

The sound of the lock deactivating told her time was up, and her stomach dropped as she waited for Geno's inevitable reaction to the creature.

Closing her eyes to what was to come, Tamara suddenly felt the gentle pressure on the back of her head pushing her body to move forward as a tingling wave undulated over her skin. Looking down, Tamara stared at the creature's massive arm and extended blade to her left as her cheek rested against its abs; she could see the static ripple of electric currents pass over both their bodies and she watched in amazement as they disappeared. Cloaked in his alien technology, they stood there in silence as Geno stormed through her apartment

Cursing and yelling as he searched for her, she only mildly listened to the bouncer's tantrum as she leaned against the creature. When was the last time she was held? She couldn't remember.

The feel of the creature's thick fingers nestled deep into her hair, gently holding her head still against him invoked a nameless feeling she was positive she never felt before. Leaning in deeper she listened with closed eyes to the deep rumbling breaths that vibrated through his abdomen. Tamara smiled, whatever this thing was, yautja or whatever, constantly growled even if it was so faint you had to be pressed against him to hear it.

The claws at the back of her head scraped gently against her effectively pulling her out of the small trance. Blinking, Tamara stepped back quickly. Embarrassment so acute struck her to the spot.

Holding her hands up, she tried to apologize, tried to clear up the possible mixed signal on her part but her words would not come out. "I-I-I-I'm…sss-so…"

His massive head tilted only a fraction as he observed her, however it was the sound of his blade retracting and the feeling of his hand cupping her throat which silenced her painful stammering at once. Tamara stood frozen in place as she felt its clawed thumb move from the top of her throat to the small hollow at the base. Taking her hand with his other hand he stepped closer to her, placing her hand at the bottom of his own throat. Carefully his fingers worked hers over the same spot on his neck outlining an odd patch of skin. Achingly slow, her curiosity seeped past her immobilizing fear until she began to understand. On her own, her fingers carefully traced over the jagged scar at his throat. This must be the reason why the large creature whispered, it had to be! Nothing as big as he should have such a low rasping, whispering voice.

Lowering her arm, she realized she felt a bit calmer now.

"Th-thank you for not killing him."

He made no response or movement to her statement. Not sure what to do, she cautiously stepped around him. She wanted to stand on the other side of the bed or at least farther apart, anything to put some distance between them. With cat like silence he turned in place watching her as she moved away, his armor never making a sound. With every foot she put between them it felt like the invisible rope of his tolerance that lay between them shortened. Sensing she would not be allowed to go any further she stopped near the foot of her bed.

"What is your name?" She tried.

The scaled creature just stood there saying nothing, his dark gold armor glinting in her apartment's dim lighting.

Ok, let's try this another way. "My n-name is Tamara. Tamara Buteau."

He stared at her as if considering her for a long moment. "I am Kian, of the Broken Skull clan."

Naturally, she wanted to know why his clan was named that, but pragmatic fear kept that curiosity in a stranglehold. But she felt a nagging feeling in her gut that keeping him talking was vital. Silence meant his mind was allowed to wander, to remember things once forgotten and the last thing she wanted him to remember was that damn red card he pulled out last night.

Mentally she repeated his name a few times in her mind. It was difficult though since it came out more like a growl rather than a normal word, but she was too afraid to have him repeat it and far too scared to attempt repeating it herself and messing it up.

Not wanting to let too much silence pass between them she tried for another route of questioning, all the while her hand twisted nervously at her comforter. "Why are you here, on Nova Hermes?"

"To hunt," the now unlit eye shields of his mask stared at her with a void blankness that made her so nervous she partly wished he would just remove the helmet and stare at her with his actual eyes.

"To hunt humans?" She asked cautiosly feeling a lump forming in her throat at the prospect of this huge creature hunting her down. When it said nothing, still she took a deep breath and probed further. "Are you going to hunt me?"

He made a sound which she could only assume was a deep derisive snort. "There is no honor in killing the weak," he replied deeply.

Normally, she would have been offended, but she couldn't. Firstly, this was by no means a normal situation and in comparison, to him she was kitten in the presence of a monstrous god.

Standing there perfectly motionless the creature continued to stare at her, or she assumed it was staring at her.

She wasn't sure what made her say it but something bold and a bit careless suddenly sparked through her as she stared at the alien hunter. "W-what if I was strong?"

He regarded her for a few moments, his head turning only a fraction as he either thought about her absurd question or stared at her as if she lost her mind. "You are not," he replied simply.

Shifting on her feet, she could feel the nervousness fade a little and her curiosity pique. "What if I was, though?"

He just stood there without moving, effectively squashing her momentary streak of boldness by his odd silence making her nervous all over again. She realized he didn't breathe like most things. His chest didn't heave in and out in the pronounced way most beings did. He was utterly still and in control of all facets of himself.

A nervous smile played at the corner of her mouth and but she couldn't resist pushing the point. She wanted this thing to talk to her, to do something other than stare at her making her feel like prey. "What if I was very skilled like…" she paused trying to think, " l-like the c-colonial marines or something? Like really badass?"

Stepping forward his large clawed feet made no sound on the metal floor. Reaching up to his mask he began to unlatch the small tubes seemingly connecting the helmet to his back armor. She watched withheld breath as he pulled down the large gold mask revealing its ghastly mandible face again. It was no less terrifying the second time she noted. Flexing the fleshy mandibles outward as if he spent too long inside the mask, he let out that unnerving reverberating clicking sound deep in his throat as his small glowing eyes met hers again.

Finally, it spoke, his inner mouth barely moving along with the words. "I would prove to you who is superior."

It was odd, though she was frightened of this thing that constantly invaded her home she could not help but to push her boundaries with it. "_If_," she stressed the word purposely, "you were to win…"

"There would be no question in my winning," he interrupted arrogantly, taking a menacing step forward.

Immediately her attempt at playfulness died. Every nerve in her body came alive with tingling numbing fear as she quickly realized her possible error. Stepping back, Tamara pressed herself against the wall near the window, holding out both hands.

"I'm s-s-sorry," she strained at the words quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Its head tilted slightly and its small eyes glared at her. She couldn't tell if it was simply his natural angry stare or was, he angry at her persistent questioning. Without saying anything, he lowered himself to the floor sitting with his spine straight and his massive legs crossed.

"Do you wish to fight me human?" He whispered so low and deep she felt rather than heard his words.

"N-no of c-c-course not!" Her tongue caught on her words as she shrunk deeper against the wall. This was not what she wanted to happen, she only wanted it to talk to her instead of giving her that silent disconcerting stare. She wanted to keep its mind on anything but sex. "I was j-just trying to make conversation," she pleaded, hoping he understood.

From his end of the room silence filled the air like an invisible wall colliding in the middle with her ever growing tension.

"Come," he pointed one slightly curved black claw to the ground before him.

As if in response she held herself tighter to the wall behind her. She didn't want to move. Tamara knew if she moved, she would be sinking deeper into whatever game he was playing with her. But as she glanced up at his beady eyes, she could see the tiny black pupil grow somehow smaller as he focuses on her while the surrounding bright green of his eyes pulsated brighter. He was not giving her a choice.

Barely lifting her feet from the floor, she inched closer until she was standing in front of him with her bed directly behind her. Even from the seated position he was gigantic, his large bulbous head coming to her stomach. Not deigning to tilt his head back, his eyes simply cut upwards beneath the strong brow ridge looking directly at her. With just a look, he commanded her to sit before him.

Sitting as far back as possible, Tamara leaned her back against the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Letting out what sounded like a pleased growl, his eyes narrowed as he gave her what she could only assume was quizzical penetrating stare.

"Why do you have no mate, human?" His low rasping voice made the question sound even more accusatory than it already was. "There are human males who provide and shelter their mate, why are you lacking a mate?"

For a brief second, Tamara blinked in confusion. Was this his version of conversation?

Before she could think better of it, she let out a dry rueful laugh. "Because there are no decent people left in this galaxy," she answered. " Besides I would never want to settle down here," she couldn't keep the disgust from her voice as she thought of having a family on Nova Hermes. "T-there is no s-sunlight on shitty planet and the two other planets in Hinter Frontier 3 are just as b-bad, trust me," she gave him a level look, forgetting that he was a giant creature who didn't really have communicative facial expressions.

Averting her gaze quickly from his inhuman, stoic gaze she continued. "And the few scattered space stations are worse I heard. There are reports that their just disease-ridden cesspits."

"Then leave," he intoned.

With a scoff she let go of her knees and braced both hands on the floor where she sat and stared openly at the large creature in front of her. She could feel his naturally aggressive stare follow her as she pointedly examined his weapons and attire. Finally, she asked. "You are some kind of warrior where you are from, right?"

"I am Yautja," his massive chest seamed to rise at this statement while his eyes pulsed in a subtle glow of pride.

Nodding, she felt suddenly more confident about her assumptions of this creature.

"You said you came here to hunt, right?" Not getting an answer from him she pressed on, determined to make her point. "Most likely you were raised and taught to hunt by your parents, I assume." This time he gave her a barely visible nod of acknowledgment as he stared at her with those tiny bestial eyes. "Well, I was born in a house of five kids that my mother used as her own personal slave force, we cooked, worked, and found food all so she didn't have to. So, regardless of which way you look at it you had the privilege to your path in life."

She was proud that her words didn't stumble over themselves this time.

For a moment he didn't move or react in any way letting out a large rumbling sound and turning his head with such force it caused the long lack dreads to whip around his head.

Sensing his agitation Tamara kept quiet, wrapping her arms back around her knees and pulling them close to her again. The silent between them was odd but not uncomfortable. Tamara was used to silence. Used to it by herself and used to it around people. A long time ago she realized her silence unnerved people all on its own. By simply not speaking she could watch as people tried to fill the empty space with mindless chatter or revealing truths and watched as they eventually looked back at her with resentment. Maybe it was unnatural to not want to talk as much as others seemed to. Before now she never really felt as if she had anything really to say. What was the point if she was only going to trip over her own words? But at this moment with this large, dangerous creature words burned at the tip of her tongue in the presence of his encompassing silence. In particular-his name. Kian, the name danced around in her thoughts with an insatiable urge to try and repeat it correctly. Could she say it? Was there something in his culture that prevented her from saying it or would he even respond if she did?

Unable to resist any longer she turned her head on her drawn up knees and rested her cheek there so she could look at him. "Kian?" She called out hesitantly, hoping she pronounced it correctly.

Turning his head from his gauntlet he was examining, she watched as a couple of his long black dreads fell over his shoulder with the slight movement. Meeting his gaze, she felt unexpectedly short of breath. His eyes were glowing much brighter green than normal. Taken aback by his unusually alert gaze on her, she had to force herself to think what she planned on asking.

"What is it like where you come from?" In the back of her mind, she pictured a vast metropolis dark dripping caves or a sea of endless sand. It still would be better than this place, she thought suppressing the tug of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

The weight of his silent stare made her want to squirm, but she knew if she did that this very primal creature sitting a few feet from her would take that as some sort of small victory over her so she steeled herself and forced herself to meet his gaze without movement. The small impromptu battle of wills felt as if it would last forever, setting every nerve ending in her body on fire. Anxiety rushed through her, reaching its absolute limit as she stared at the small dark pupils within the radiating green of his eyes.

Just as she was about to break and concede to the unspoken battle, he turned away making a sound that she swore sounded suspiciously like some sort of beastly chuckle. Raising his right clawed hand, he carefully and deliberately tapped the slightly curved black claw onto the pad of his gauntlet. A small pillar of red light shot upward before expanding into a circular holographic image of a planet. Biting her lip, Tamara leaned forward with a squint as she tried to make out the details of the image. Moving again, Kian's claws tapped at his gauntlet's data-pad again this time activating her window's visor settings and the room's lights. With the window blackened and the lights shut off, Tamara's eyes widened at the holograph lighting the now pitch-black room. Through the revolving image of the planet she could see the harsh shadows fall across Kian's monstrous face while his tiny predatory eyes remained locked on hers. Her stomach tightened and she looked away from him.

Slowly the image started to enlarge and change from the digital red into the true vibrant colors of the planet. Still sitting on the floor her mouth opened in awe at the pure beauty of the green planet that filled her apartment. Lush greens and vibrant gem blues whirled past her as he zoomed in further into the world. Mountains covered in dense blankets of foliage rose high into the sun-drenched sky while valleys veined with starling blue rivers zig zagged across the floor of the earth.

The image started to rotate faster, blurring past the beautiful scenery until it stopped at a waterfall. Going in further the holograph showed a close-up view of the churning basin of the waterfall and a round black structure sitting not too far away. Pointing a claw to a domed structure that resembled a huge black metal yurt, Kian spoke again.

"I live here."

She didn't have any words for the image of his home, they all seemed to burn up in the back of her throat. Images she secretly collected from various websites all over the galactic net couldn't measure up to what she was viewing, because unlike those random photos this was real. It was achingly real. Real enough to know that someone actually lived there. Every day, Kian could wake up and prowl the edges of this jungle and swim through the bright clear waters as the sun spilled through the trees. He was free to live under the sun, while she was stuck in a jungle made of glass and metal.

She could feel the bitter jealousy in the back of her throat burn at her tongue threatening to trip up her words. Tamara took a deep breath; it was pointless to be resentful. "It's beautiful," she finally managed to say. "Why would you ever leave it?"

He looked at her as if her words made no sense. "To hunt."

"But this is not a hunt for food," she gestured around them. This wasn't a hunt; this was just a culling of a bunch of assholes by a much more superior creature who could be at home frolicking through his beautiful jungle.

This time she was positive she heard the scorn lace his responding growl at the suggestion at hunting them for food. Though she could see his point she supposed. There was something proud about him, despite his monstrous features. Kian's ego and pride rippled off his colossal frame not to subtly reminding her at all times he not only thought he was better than humans but that it just may be fact that he was.

"And you don't mind getting hurt while you do this _hunt_?" She questioned, gesturing towards his body, though her eyes focused on the prominent scar at his throat.

"There would be no honor to die without scars," he replied, his low rasping voice drifting through the darkeness with natural menace.

"I guess I will never understand why you feel compelled to hunt," she confessed. "Especially when you have all of this waiting for you at home." Turning her gaze back to the holograph she rested her chin on her knees and whispered more to herself than to him. "I…I would give anything to see this, anything just to feel the sun again."

He stared at the human a few moments longer, watching the emotions play on her face before reaching over and grabbing his mask. Dialing in a few commands onto his gauntlet he looked back at her, extending his mask.

"W-what?" she asked breathlessly.

Her nervous speech impediment was oddly intriguing. It was with no doubt a weakness in self-discipline, something he was trained to detest. There was no room in the Yautja world for weakness. Every failing, every flaw was forcibly removed at a young age and in his case before that.

Suppressing the urge to growl at the unbidden memory, he pushed the mask farther into her hands until she accepted it fully. Giving him a questioning look she hesitantly held the mask to her face, keeping it cautiosly inches away. With a gasp she held the mask back and looked at him in shock before quickly pushing the mask flush to her face. Inside he projected a more in-depth image of his home world, Carnax. Viewing it through the mask she would be able to see images of Carnax no human had ever witnessed. Leaning back against the side of her bed with a sigh he watched with sharp green eyes as the silent female stared at the projected image. Inhaling, Kian could smell the lacrimation in her eyes. With narrowed eyes he watched a glossy tear roll past the edge of his mask and down her jaw. He knew humans were emotional creatures, knowing they could cry for various reasons and not just pain, though he had never seen one cry with a look such as this. He was unsure how to catalog the emotion he was witnessing. Thinking back at the image of his home on Carnax he tried to see it from the perspective of this female. There was no comparison between his planet and this human wasteland. All the planets in the Narvis galaxy were covered in thick unforgiving jungles and bathed in sunlight, the sea was filled with scores of wildlife while various beast prowled the jungle. Looking at it through her deprived eyes, he could appreciate the beauty of his home.

A quietness more acute than usual in the female's presence brought his attention back to her. With her head lulled back against the edge of her bed he could tell by her relaxed body she had fallen asleep underneath his mask.


	6. Chapter 6

Leaning against the metal shower wall, Tamara closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift to memories from last night. At some point she didn't exactly remember, she fell asleep wearing Kian's mask. She could still feel the now ghost-like feeling of his heavy mask resting on her skin. Unlike her fears, the inside of the large creature's mask wasn't at all how she imagined. Recalling his frightening tusked mandibles and large open fanged mouth beneath, she pictured his mask being moist and dank-it wasn't at all. It was lined with red circuitry seemingly threaded and integrated with the cool gold metal. Where his mouth would normally go was indented perfectly to his face as if they molded the metal around him for a perfect fit. Once her face touched the cool metal of the mask, it lit up instantly showing her a virtual reality of his far off, beautiful world.

Those scenes, dear God, those scenes of his home world hurt her far more than she would have ever imagined. Everything inside of her longed to be in a place like that. It wouldn't matter if the whole planet was filled with gigantic creatures like Kian. If they didn't eat people and wouldn't kill her because she was too weak then what did she have to worry about?

Opening her eyes with a snap she reached for the shower's control and pressed the off switch. Now silent and dripping wet, she bowed her head at the vague memory of Kian's touch. That was something she would have to worry about with Kian though, the only thing really. Last night as she tiredly felt his clawed hands reach for her, she finally accepted the fact that Kian really had no intention to hurt her. It was the way his large scaled hands touched her as he picked her up off the floor. He had tough almost rubbery skin that reminded her of terrain-tires on the mining machinery back on her old home world, thick and seemingly impenetrable. With deadly hands such as his they shouldn't have been able to handle her with such gentle dexterity as he did last night. Setting her on the bed, she could remotely feel his hands linger against her, sliding along the curves of her hips unnecessarily before eventually pulling away. No, he didn't want to harm her, had completley different intentions for her.

Getting out of the shower, she tried to push away the natural direction of her thoughts. Grabbing her towel, she dried off and called out a command to the computer to play the news, anything to help distract her thoughts. Immediately the sound of a female's anchors voice echoed off the walls in her bathroom and Tamara could see the flash of images light up on her mirror as the video feed took up the bottom corner of her bathroom mirror.

The distraction wasn't working.

Thoughts of his monstrous hands running up and down her flesh invaded her mind. Images of her body being used roughly by the frightening beast made her breathing pick up. No! She had to stop thinking of it.

Walking out of the bathroom, she grabbed her pair of underwear out of the concealed drawer in the wall. Automatically the video news feed moved from the bathroom to a projected image on the wall across from her bed resuming its broadcast.

"And now here is Sargent Commander Asop Rackus, with news regarding the Red Blade's recent altercation with the terrorist," the anchor's overbearing voice announced.

Pulling a black tank top over her head, Tamara paused before grabbing her pants laying on the bed.

Square jaw, narrow cold blue eyes, and a blonde undercut that left a portion of the hair at the front to purposely and dramatically fall over one eye Asop Rackus was a terrifying egomaniac. Stepping up to the camera drone Asop stood tall, with his back straight and hands behind his back, a pose he no doubt knew made his wide set shoulders take up most of the camera's frame.

"To the citizens of Nova Hermes be assured this assault on our great city is nearly over. This terrorist has been mortally wounded and is being tracked as we speak. I have no doubt we will capture this _monster_ soon."

A cold knot formed in the pit of her stomach spreading out like veins to her arms and legs. Shakily she took a step back. Reflexively, her eyes went to the window as she thought about what the commander just said. He knew! No other reports officially stated that Kian was anything but human, only a few articles implied it and hundreds of forum posts speculated it. But Asop knew, Tamara could tell by his carefully worded threat and his eyes narrowing as he said "_monster_" that he knew exactly what they were dealing with. Injured. He said that they injured Kian. Did they see his neon green blood? How did they injure him? The way the commander spoke Tamara could only assume it was bad.

Unfocused she slipped on her pants still frowning at the thought of Kian mortally wounded. Why was her pulse racing like this? Why in all the stars would she be nervous for Kian's sake?! He was a killer-a killer of killers. If anyone was fine it was him, but…

Zipping up her jeans she let out a groan. Slapping her hand on the wall she waited as the rack of clothes popped out and grabbed her black hoodie. Sliding the hidden panel back into the wall she turned around and stared out at the pouring rain. Dammit it all.

Crouched at the corner of the building, Kian watched as the red and black airspeeders slowly patrolled the area with their anti-camouflage lights. Within the past two days the pathetic human militia upgraded their lights which resulted in the wound currently in his flank. Ignoring the pain, he watched and waited for the beam of light to pass over the spot where he was crouching. Pulling up close, one of the three beams washed over him as he stared at the human heat signatures through the metal of the speeder.

Unlike before, his camouflage did not waver under the light.

Growling in satisfaction, he watched with bored eyes as the humans slowly continued by in their search. Activating his gauntlet, he pulled up an overview of the surrounding area and studied his moving targets. His plan worked. After weeks of killing menial, worthless criminals he finally got the attention of the human millitia that guarded this planet. Unlike the degenerate humans he had hunted prior, these military trained humans would come to him.

Standing up, he ignored the pain in his side as he turned his head in the direction of the girl's residence. This would be the fifth time within the hour his thoughts returned to the girl.

He was intrigued by the idea of this human female and he hated it.

When he learned of other yautja-respected yautja, lowering themselves to mate with such a weak inferior species he did not understand it…he still couldn't. But the damnable knowledge was in his head now planted like a seed of invasive vines spreading to his errant thoughts catching him off guard. When he inquired with Akur, of Ojibwe, as to why he chose his talkative mate, the older hunter merely said that she was different from the rest. When Rakkah, the leader of Ojibwe, met with his clan's leaders and the same question was given to him by an elder hunter, Rakkah arrogantly informed the elder and all others in attendance to hear that he gave his mate no choice. Thinking of the other two yautja's words, Kian pictured Tamara's silent demeanor and watchful brown eyes. This human was certainly different and judging by her pervasive fear of him, Kian could see that giving her the choice to come to him would not gain him the results he desired.

Tightening his fist Kian suppressed the growl of anger threatening to explode from his chest. Why did his thoughts stay on this weak insignificant human woman?! Why did he even desire her weak body? She was nothing like the women on Carnak. His mother and sister were brutal women who spoke seldomly, laughed rarely, and killed often. Female Yautja were the ones that instilled and stoked the yautja hatchling's natural aggression. It was the them who taught the older whelps the finer details of the kill. This human girl was nothing but a soft lump of shivering organs in comparison to his kind.

A girl who left him confounded and intrigued. Regardless of his warring thoughts regarding the quiet girl, the human belonged to him now-whether she wanted it or not.

Staring past the hundreds of skyscrapers littering the dark skyline, Kian pulled up the image of her building and highlighted it on his schematic. The militia's patrol was heaviest in that direction, despite the want to see her shocked face as he climbed through her window again, Kian would not take the risk an involve her in his hunt with these trained humans.

Stopping at a deserted intersection, Tamara leaned over the railing of the glass bridge and watched the flashing lights of the Red Blade's airspeeders hovering below. Directly beneath the bridge she was standing on was a wider bridge that went diagonally across. There were about seven or eight Red Blade officers out of their vehicles gathered below, all talking with animated motions and their faces set in hardened scowls. Next to them, on the building where their airspeeder's spotlights shined was what was left of another officer's body hanging by its bound mutilated feet.

Taking a deep breath to quell the rise of nausea in her throat, Tamara watched as the emergency personnel removed the body's only identifying marker-a Red Blade helmet-before cutting it down. Since she left her apartment there had been three more quick and brutal deaths to the Red Blade's forces reported. Even despite his supposed injury Kian seemed unfazed, which only made her feel extra foolish for being out here. What was she even doing? What in all the stars possessed her to leave the safety of her apartment to come out here during a WAR and try to find the monster who was causing it?! But something didn't feel right, she thought as she spared one last glance at the scene below. Something in her gut twisted and pulled for her to continue, she just hoped that something wasn't just rampant stupidity.

Creeping away from the edge of the bridge, she walked silently and quickly away. Clicking the button on her earbud, she resumed the audio of her scanner. From the barrage of angry, desperate voices she knew that most of the officers of the Red Blade were afraid. It was the sudden deep authoritative voice however that made her pause.

"We got him in the 498th quadrant, level 60. Move out NOW! ALL UNITS, MOVE!" Commander Asop Rackus's voice boomed over the broadcast.

Looking back Tamara could hear the engines of the airspeeder whir and spin before three of them rose high past her bridge and above a few more bridges, before launching off. Sucking in her bottom lip, Tamara turned back around and began to walk faster. She wondered if she would make it to him before they would or if she would even find him in the labyrinth of the city? Even narrowed down, that was a pretty big area to try and search.

Unable to run, due to the fear of the camera's picking up her up, which would surely register as unusual behavior on the Red Blade's monitoring algorithm, she transferred to three bridges and cut across what felt like twenty alleys. Emerging from the mouth of another alley, Tamara stopped and listened to the scanner feed playing through her earbuds as two groups of armed officers went running past on the other side of the bridge. It was raining harder in this quadrant. Standing under a closed down noodle cart's awning, she pulled her hoodie over her face tighter as she tried to look up from her tiny dry space up to the dark towering buildings reflecting the various streaming brightly colored lights of the constant playing advertisements. Announcements and endorsements that were going unseen by the now dead city. On her way here she encountered only a handful of people, all running in the opposite direction. She could feel their questioning looks as she walked hurriedly past them with her head down and hands balled tight in her pockets. Why would she be running towards the fight? Towards the convergence of a mass of Red Blade and not to mention a terrosist? Hell, she wondered too.

Waiting until the officers were out of sight, Tamara stepped away from her tiny covered area and took another street in the other direction. The street was poorly lit. The bright neon scrolling lights and flashing images stopped at the corner and cycled back in the opposite direction. For what felt like the hundredth time, she yelled at herself as to what in just the hell was she doing out here?

Hearing oncoming voices, Tamara rushed over to a small alcove in the building next to her. It was an alcove that led to a glass door for residents of the building. Opening the blue holographic screen on her comm-device she bent her head, hoping to appear as if she was simply absorbed in her phone or waiting for someone to buzz her in the building. Holding her breath, she waited. The two men's footsteps were loud and quick as they approached. One talking, mostly complaining, while the other kept his personal spotlight on his shoulder trained above and along the building. Thankfully they passed her, either ignoring her for their true target or missing her altogether. Waiting a couple of seconds longer before stepping out she let out a deep exhale. Listening to the scanner she walked slowly down the glass bridge, across another deserted street filled with closed shops and stands until she was in another identical one-way crossing between buildings.

This was pointless, he could be seven levels below her by now or fifty-eight levels above. He could be anywhere! Turning around she was preparing to walk across the empty intersection of bridges when a neon green smudge caught her attention. She knew that green. Squinting through the drizzling rain, Tamara could see the thick goopy glowing green substance at the corner.

Calm down, she mentally told herself. She couldn't just run over to it, especially if she didn't want a camera drone to pick up her movements. Deciding how she would handle it, she kept her comm device activated as she tried to casually walk and keep her eyes on the screen. Hopefully to anyone watching she would just appear to be someone concentrating on their comm device and walking slowly and wouldn't notice her dragging feet kick some of the water from a nearby puddle onto the bright green smear, diluting its brightness. Turning down an alley she spotted another, much larger green smear. Her heart rate picked up. She wanted to throw back her hood and look up and around, but she knew she couldn't. Patiently Tamara walked closer, noticing that the bright neon blood was actually closer to the building's awning. Stepping under the overhang she stared at the big splash of blood. This was too much blood. Surely even something as big and ferocious as Kian could die if they lost this much blood, right?

Voices echoed off the walls off the building startling her. Alarmed, she tried to kick some water onto the blood but there weren't any deep enough puddles nearby and the voices were getting closer. Shit, shit, shit. Looking around frantically she couldn't find anything to hide the blood with. Pausing she thought for a second before unzipping her hoody and peeling it off her arms and draping it over the blood. Stepping back just before the men's voices came around the corner, Tamara pressed herself in between a vending kiosk and the bridge's railing, hopefully out of the sight of the patrolling men.

Her heart was hammering as they came closer. Were they coming this way? Did they see the blood? Fuck, she was so fucked. They would discover she tried to hide it and then they would arrest her. Her chest was beginning to heave with labored breath as her imagination began to run wild. Her hands felt shaky and clammy while her stomach turned to water.

Pressing herself further into the sign as the sound of boots approached, she let her head hit the back of the sign and she stared unseeingly at the building ahead of her as she felt them approach her crumpled up hoodie hiding the damning piece of evidence.

Light warbled and shimmered high above along the side of the building. A familiar outline of an impressive hulking form came to view. Green, evil eyes flashed a bright green directly at her before muting again and Tamara could see the creature's head turn slightly towards the men walking her way. With wide eyes she could see the outline of his blade extend from his gauntlet. The moment of relief she felt at recognizing Kian was immediately lost in heart stopping fear. Oh no! By the stars please don't let him kill these men, not while she was here at least!

With her eyes locked onto him, time seemed to slow down as she watched the outline of Kian's cloaked body compress tighter preparing himself to launch from the side of the building directly towards the approaching officers. She had to do something; she could not let him kill these two men in her presence. There could be camera drones anywhere, or their body armor's camera could pick up an image of her. No, she could not risk it!

Slipping off her sneaker she grabbed it and held her breath, all the while sending up a silent prayer to the stars, leaning back towards the railing of the bridge at her back she tossed the shoe at the building at her right.

Bouncing off the glass window with and audible thump the shoe ricocheted to the glass bridge diagonally below landing with another tumbling thump.

"Below us, on the east bound level 58th bridge," one of the officers yelled into his comm device.

Pounding footsteps vibrated the bridge under her feet as they ran the opposite direction from her hiding spot behind the sign.

Tamara didn't get time for a sigh. A heavy thump directly in front of her nearly scared a scream out of her; but the heavy arm crossing her back and encircling her waist pulled her tight against the hard-armored body cut off any attempt for sound. With her legs partially straddling his, Tamara could feel Kian's powerful thigh between her legs tighten into a solid mass of muscle as he crouched low before launching them off the ground. Clutching onto his armor, Tamara bit her lip to keep from screaming as the buildings and lights around her blurred in their ascent into the sky. In an unceremonious thud, she could feel Kian's huge body land hard against something.

Only daring to open her eyes a crack she immediately regretted it. They were hanging on to the side of a building! Looking to her right she could see past Kian's head that his left arm was outstretched towards the building and his claws were embedded into the hard-reinforced diamond-nite glass exterior. Even despite his cloaking she could see his bright green blood oozing around the cuts in his thick fingers.

"Kian!" She risked a frantic whisper.

He let out a short rumbling growl. "You will hold onto me," he rasped the command, his mask turning to the side of her head.

For the briefest of second she thought about the meaning of his words. His other arm was wrapped around her back holding her to him and from a terrifying death. Instinctively she wanted to protest but the words were trapped in fear. Shaking her head in refusal, she pressed her face into the crook of his neck.

"You will do as I say-Tamara," his damaged voice held a note of anger to it that frightened her.

Feeling her tears well in her eyes, she carefully lifted her legs higher against him and wrapped them around his waist the best she could while tightening her arms around his neck. In the back of her mind she worried if she was crushing the thick column of his neck any but immediately disregarded the thought with a scowl. He could choke if all she cared!

The feeling of his arm moving away from her sent a whimper through her throat as she felt her body lose its crucial support and the full body weight transfer to her own strength. Burying her face tighter into his neck she cried silently as she felt him begin to move up the building. She could feel his body jerk slightly and the sound of corresponding glass shatter as he clawed his way up the building. She remembered that he didn't wear any sort of boots or covering for his feet just the greaves that covered his shins. His hands and feet must be beyond lacerated at this point.

Lifting her head only an inch she whispered through her last streaming tears. "I'm sorry Kian, I-I w-was only trying to come h-help."

For a few moments he said nothing, just the sound of glass crunching and the sound of his guttaral breathing as his muscled body contracted and stretched underneath her in his climb.

"You will not let go until I say," he replied deeply.

Nodding she put her head back down against him and held on tighter. After a few minutes he stopped, and she could hear something beep behind her but didn't risk the opportunity to look. Feeling his body shift differently than before she bit her lip to keep from screaming as she felt herself nearly turn upside down, but before she could really process what was happening everything stopped. No longer feeling the drizzling rain on her skin she opened her eyes and realized they were inside an empty apartment.

Standing in the center of the room Kian silently let her extract himself from his person, his large hand settling on the curve of her ass as she awkwardly relaxed her now stiff, exhausted legs from his waist. Finally, on two feet, Tamara shakily stood back from the large hunter, getting a good look at him as his cloaking blinked and fizzled away.

There was blood everywhere.


	7. Chapter 7

The apartment they broke into was nearly identical to hers. Whoever lived here before, she could tell by the scattered items littering the bed and bathroom counter, left in a hurry. Hurrying over to the kitchen area, Tamara slipped off her one shoe as she found a bowl and some towels. Pressing the buttons on the sink, she waited for the water to warm. With a bowl of now hot water, she turned to see Kian still standing with his mask on in the middle of the room.

"Kian?" She whispered, unsure of what he was thinking. The blank evil eye shields of his intimidating mask gave only the impression of immanent death to anyone who looked at it.

"Why were you out there, human?" The harsh ragged words to his whispering voice made her wince.

Was he upset with her? She couldn't tell. He could just be angry about the injuries all over his body, she considered. Dropping her gaze to the jagged rip in his flesh on his flank, she shifted her weight from one foot to another with antsy tension.

"I-I heard the commander say he injured the perpetrator, you," she clarified, "and I-I…" she wasn't sure what to say because even she didn't know fully why she left the saftey of her apartment. But she could hardly take the time to focus on that now and sort out her thoughts and reasonings, the gash on his flank was still bleeding quite badly and all she wanted to do was somehow stop it. "Please Kian, please sit. You're bleeding so b-badly."

He said nothing as he lowered himself to the ground, just like he did the first time he barged into her apartment.

Relieved he was complying, she came over to him and grabbed a pillow off the bed and knelt on top of it next to him. Watching him, she waited as he grabbed the small medical kit from somewhere on his back armor and opened it on the floor in front of him. With each movement, his bloody lacerated hands left bright green marks behind.

"I c-can clean it first," she offered as she dipped the towel in the hot water and wrung it out.

Kian said nothing, he just sat there. The only movement coming from the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He kept his mask on, a fact that she realized highly bothered her. The mask wasn't just a barrier between them, it made him the exact image he tried to portray to all of his prey-an imposing killing god. It shocked her to realize she missed the ghastly inhuman face beneath with the small beady bright green eyes.

Wiping the blood from the wound, she gave an audible wince at the bright blood that oozed out even more with her every touch.

"What sh-should I do…I'm n-not sure…" The words were getting stuck on her tongue as she stared worriedly at the large gash. How were they going to fix this? The tiny staple gun couldn't even begin to fix this.

Ignoring her flustered worry, Kian pulled out a small circular device. Leaning forward she watched as one bloodied, clawed finger pressed the center button on the device. With a startling pop, the device opened much like a satellite dish and a flame burst to life in the middle. Taking out some phials, he began pouring them into the flaming bowl until he made a bright blue substance. Frowning at its chunky almost magma like consistency, Tamara watched him stir the incredibly hot gunk together. Setting the bowl with the boiling substance aside, Kian raised both hands to his mask and then stopped. Lowering his arms, he lifted his head a bit and looked at her, or she assumed the unlit eyes of his mask were looking at her.

"Take off my mask," he whispered the command.

Stunned, she sat frozen for a few seconds staring back him. Seeing no movement or anything to indicate he was not serious she hesitantly nodded and leaned forward. "I'll try," she offered doubtfully.

Raising herself to her knees, she moved until she was directly in front of him. Even in this position Kian was still much taller than her making it difficult to reach him properly. Leaning to one side, she very carefully let her fingers trace the edges of his mask where she had seen him grab before when he removed the faceplate. Slowly, the tips of her fingers glided down the edge of the mask feeling the warmth of his rough skin beneath and the brush of the tiny quill like spikes along the side of his head. When her fingers found what felt to be some sort of metal tabs, she felt the vibrations before she even heard the deep rumble of his approving growl. Leaning in farther, until her body was awkwardly leaning over his crossed legs and nearly touching his chest, she used nearly all of her strength to press the tabs. Finally, with a click and a whoosh of decompressed air the mask came free in her hands. Resting back on her calves, she held the mask in her lap as Kian stared back at her with small green eyes and flexing mandibles. For some odd reason a playful part of her wanted to say hi, as if she was just now seeing the real him.

Removing some of his gold back armor and shoulder armor Kian grabbed the bowl of molten blue magma. Tamara could barely pull her eyes away from the enormity of Kian's bare torso as he began scooping the boiling substance onto a short metal paddle like spoon. Scaled and sculpted his body looked so lethal and capable of crushing power. His huge biceps bulged with each movement of his arms, and though his chest lacked the human features of hair and nipples it did not lack mass. It was wide and defined with rippling muscles and decorated with a multitude of scars. The rough texture of his dark green hide scratched at her curiosity making her fingers itch to reach out and run the tips of them along the grooves of his body.

With a generous scoop of the boiling hot substance, Kian stretched his torso to the side and lifted his arm as he looked down at the gash at his flank. Realizing what he intended to do Tamara slapped her hand over her mouth as a cry threatened to escape. Unable to tear her eyes away, she watched as he smeared the scalding magma across his gash, searing and sizzling the bloody flesh beneath. Kian's eyes closed and his body went completely rigid as he held himself still while the substance crackled against his wound.

It felt like an eternity, as he held the stuff against him. Tamara could smell his burning flesh as it cauterized the wound. "Please Kian," she moaned, tears welling in her eyes as she looked to his wound and back to him. Reaching out a hand she ghosted her fingers atop his wrist in silent pleading gesture. "Please, surely that is enough."

"Mmmm," he growled deeply. After a few seconds, he finally pulled the paddle away causing some of the now dried magma to crumble away and fall to the floor. Moving slower than before and breathing deeper, he slowly scraped off the rest of the magma off his now sealed wound.

Waiting impatiently until he was done, Tamara reached out with the now cooled towel and pressed it to the hot wound. Kian let out a deep groaning sigh at the cool contact. Giving him a sorrowful smile, she dabbed gently at the wound until the towel became warm. Turning to the rest of his body, she began wiping various other and thankfully smaller wounds she found.

After some time, Tamara's heartrate finally slowed down to match Kian's now normal breathing. "Why do you do this?" She began, silently reaching for one of his hands.

Setting his hand in hers, Kian watched her as she began cleaning the cuts along his fingers. She was surprised to find most of them healing already. "I gather you dont have a high outlook on humans so why even take the time to hunt us?" She asked.

He didn't say anything, he simply watched as her fingers moved across his as she tried to pick the shards of glass from his flesh.

"Humans are weak," he finally spoke. "Your kind has no honor."

His words unexpectantly stung. Pausing in her ministrations for just a second she forced herself to refocus at the task and continue. Why did the opinion of a monster suddenly hurt? Remembering the Red Blade officer she saw mutilated and strung up from the building it wasn't anything new that Kian didn't see any value in their kind.

A few beats of silence stretched between them and Tamara kept her head down and tried to focus on pulling a longer piece of shard from his hand.

Curling his fingers in a way that prevented her from continuing, Kian forced her attention back to him. Small predatory eyes met hers. "There are some of you...that have outlying qualities. A determination that cannot be measured. Perseverance. A tendency to do foolish things out of nonsensical emotions." And though his face barely moved, save for the slight lift of his jutting brow bone, he somehow managed to give her a pointed look.

Feeling immediately sheepish, Tamara bowed her head and began gently pulling at his long fingers, straightening them back out in her hand. "I dont know why I came out," she mumbled, not looking up. "I j-j-just...I was just worried.

Kian gave a short grunt for a reply. After a few moments of silence, she assumed he wasn't going to say anything else.

"The previous elder yautjas of my planet found these anomalies in your kind intriguing," he began again. Risking a glance up Tamara's pulse spiked when her eyes met his. "My clan and others were tested at embryonic phases combining our DNA with some of human DNA."

She let that information soak in for a moment as her eyes dropped to the column of his thick neck and slide past his wide shoulders. He was sort of human like, she supposed, but also not at all. Sure, he was a bipedal humanoid like creature that had some human features but once you got a close enough look at him or should she say, once he allowed you to look closely at him nothing about him was human at all.

"Did it change anything about you?" She asked.

For the first time his gaze shifted from hers and turned to stare out at nothing in particular. "The results were inconclusive," he answered gruffly.

Done with all the scars on his hands and torso she tried to get a look at his feet tucked underneath his crossed legs. From what she could see the once vibrant green blood was dried and muted now, the wounds on his feet already quickly healing. Setting the now green bloodied towel in the water she mimicked his sitting style, sighing at the relaxing of her sore thigh muscles. Tamara couldn't help but eye his large thighs; she bet he never groaned from sore muscles or pain. Just remembering his reaction earlier to his self-cauterization, he didn't even flinch. Was it strength or pride that kept him from showing pain?

Thinking about what he said, she tilted her head and asked. "Does it b-bother you to know you have some traces of human DNA in you?"

"Yes," he replied, his head was still turned giving her the profile of his massive head. The reply was simple and without inflection but she already knew the answer even when she asked.

She could only assume the experiment didn't work. Surely a dash of human DNA in an overwhelming sea of predator DNA couldn't accomplish much of anything.

Catching a glimpse of a flash of neon green she leaned forward on her knees and peered at the side of his head where the long black tubular dreads extended. There was a wound she missed. Grabbing the now lukewarm cloth in the bowl she wrung it out. Eyeing him cautiously, she couldn't help swallow at the thick feeling of apprehension as his inhuman gaze watched her with an unreadable alertness to them. Seeing him give her no indication that the back of his head was off limits to her she carefully scooted closer to him. Tamara frowned as she got a somewhat better look at the glowing wound buried under the pile of black dreads. She needed him to turn his head. As it was, she was already leaning awkwardly over his crossed legs to even see the wound slightly. Figuring he would give her some sort of growl or warning grunt if she overstepped her privileges, she gently touched her fingers to the side of his mandibled face and ever so softly pushed him to turn his head. For a millisecond he did not move under her soft nudge. She let out an exhale of relief when she felt his large head turn under her guidance. Hesitantly, she pulled her fingers away, a part of her couldn't deny she wanted to let them linger longer. It was a realization that disturbed her so deeply it nearly made her pause. Furrowing her brow even deeper, Tamara forced herself to clear her mind and concentrate at the task at hand. Carefully, she gathered a portion of his dreads and moved them out of the way until she could reach and clean the cut beneath.

"These wounds aren't fatal are they?" She asked. The wound on his head was thankfully shallow and the one at his flank still looked tender and quite gruesome but it was no longer bleeding profusely.

A heavy rolling click started up in his throat making her pause. She forgot he could make that noise. With each rapid tick of the jungle like noise deep in his throat she could feel her heart rate increase to match it. Was that its purpose, to intimidate or was it a part of his language somehow? It was so utterly inhuman, her brain could not form any concept of purpose for the clicking sound that seemed to echo off the walls.

Cocking his head to the side, he forced her to lean away from his head and look at him directly. Like this they were nearly eye to eye. "Do you want me to live human?"

The question caught her off guard, hitting some concealed nerve inside of her, flustering her instantly. "I-I just dont want to see you hurt unnecessarily…" she tried to explain, but Kian cut her off.

Wrapping one massive arm around her waist with striking speed, Kian lifted her off her knees and until she was awkwardly half kneeling and half suspended on top of his crossed legs. "You will answer the question," he demanded, his whispering voice graveled and rough.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest as her hands instinctively pushed at his bare shoulders, the thick muscled hide beneath reminding her that her efforts were useless. Her hips were pressed against his stomach forcing her to lean back in an arch in his hold. Terrified she stared into his small predatory eyes. There was no anger behind them. Her heart tripped over itself in relief as it tried to calm. "No…" she whispered, her voice still tight from the moment of fear. "I-I don't want to see you hurt."

Something nameless passed through his eyes, an emotion she could not quite place as he let out a pleased humming vibration against her imprisoned body. Lifting his other arm, he tilted her effortlessly as if she were a child in his arms until she was very nearly cradled against him. Confused she gave him a questioning look, but he did not see it. The tiny black pupils of his glowing eyes traveled languidly down her body before coming back up to rest at her full breasts straining against her black tank top.

Tamara stiffened. She forgot she had thrown off her hoodie outside to cover his blood trail. Normally, she would never expose this much of herself during non-work hours. Human or not, looking up at Kian she could feel the creature's lust for her as he watched her now panicked breathing push her heavy breasts up and down beneath him.

"Kian don't," she pleaded in a small voice, lifting the one free arm which wasn't trapped against him to his chest in an effort to break him from his trance.

He ignored her. The arm holding her to him tightened as he brought his other hand to her stomach, easily pushing away her defending arm.

"No please," Tamara tried to move, to gain purchase with her legs against the floor but Kian's crossed legs beneath her kept her feet from properly planting onto the floor.

Thick black claws scraped against the soft skin of her stomach stilling her instantly. With no choice but to watch, Tamara's eyes followed his free hand as it pushed underneath the fabric of her shirt. Her abdominal muscles tensed under his touch as he dragged his hand upwards stopping for agonizing seconds here and there as if enjoying the feel of her skin beneath the thick pads of his fingers.

"Kian," she pleaded, as his hand crept to up to the edges of her bra, though she no longer struggled in his hold.

His eyes flicked up to look at her, giving her a deep penetrating stare as his hand continued. Curving over the round of her breast his hand stopped as her back involuntarily arched pushing the softness of her breast farther into his monstrous hand. His eyes seemed to glow brighter as he tilted his head from her to look down at what he was doing. Tamara opened her mouth to say something, to do something to stop this but her words were caught by the intense heat that unfurled as his hand gently tightened over the cup of her bra, massaging the pliable flesh in his grip. Again her body moved under its own accord, pushing into his touch.

Releasing a deep growl that shook through her body, Kian swiped the bra upwards releasing her breasts with a jiggling bounce. His eyes flashed bright at the sight of her. Tamara's nipples tightened as she read the look of unmistakable hunger pass through the beady eyes just as she felt his thick bicep curl beneath her back as he lifted her upwards. A whimpering sound managed to escape from her throat as she watched his mandibles open wide. Sharp terrifying teeth, surely made for ripping and tearing through his victims descended against the most vulnerable part of her. Lifting her higher he bent his head down to meet her, enclosing his mouth against the generous fatty tissue.

Fear immediately dissipated at the feeling of his rough tongue pressing against her distended nipple. Letting out a small cry, she ignored the sharp feeling of his teeth pressing into the softness of her skin all she could do was close her eyes and focus on the slick movement of his mouth.

Deep shuddering growls rippled through her has Kian pressed the flat of his rough tongue against her nipple, pushing it down, nearly flattening it, before scraping his tongue slowly upwards until the tip of his tongue flicked torturously at the tip. Her hands which were now buried within his dreads tightened as she let out a whimper. Something was beautifully wrong about his tongue there were rough indentations that seemed to run along the surface like deep ridges. Heat flooded to her core as her body tensed again as Kian repeated the rough, slow laving. By the stars, she was going to die. She could feel herself becoming wet as her hips moved in agitation. Her whole body needed more. Switching to her other breast, Kian snaked a hand between her jean clad thighs and cupped her roughly.

Tamara let out a keening moan that echoed into the empty room.

No, the single worded thought bloomed in the back of her mind. If this kept going this creature was going to want more. He was going to have sex with her and she wouldn't survive that. Images of Kian holding her down as he pushed into her much smaller body flashed through her thoughts. No, he would break her! He would tear her apart and irrevocably damage her, she couldn't let it go that far. But Kian's hand was already moving just as she tried to focus on her decision. Even through her jeans she could clearly feel the strength of his long monstrous fingers undulating against her damp core, building and stoking a heat she had never even produced herself before.

"Ki-" her cry of his name was cut short by his other hand suddenly clamping over her mouth.

Deathly still Kian's entire posture changed in an instant. Rigid and still Kian's eyes brightened with a lethal intensity as he stared off at the wall near the door. Silently, he removed his hand from between her thighs and grabbed his mask sitting next to him placing it over his face. Too scared to move, Tamara laid cradled against his crossed legs with wide eyes as she waited. From this position she could see the strong column of his neck and the muscles beneath move and pulse as he emitted a faint angry clicking sound. Staring at the door his large head moved side to side as he scanned the wall, it was as if he was looking through the walls somehow. There was something beyond the door-or someone.

Without a sound, he carefully lifted her from his lap and placed her on her feet, still keeping his hand clamped over her mouth. Giving her a warning stare, Kian waited for her shaky nod before he removed his hand. Silently and quickly, he donned his armor once again. Moving to her, Kian placed both hands on her shoulders pushing her backward until she was backed against the corner of the room between the bed and the wall. By now her heart was thudding in her chest and she had to clench her hands into fists to keep from shaking. It was the Red Blade, it had to be. Were they in the hallway? Was that what Kian heard, footsteps of Red Blade officers coming down the deserted building's halls preparing to strike?

Pushing at her shoulders, Kian forced her to crouch low until she was practically hidden by the bed. Crouching in front of her, he grabbed her chin and tilted her face to his, forcing her to look into the blank eye shields of his mask.

"You will wait," his whispered words sounded tighter almost clipped with urgency. "Wait until you hear nothing nearby and then go back to your home. Take the upper levels, I will take them to the lower levels."

Tamara felt suddenly paralyzed to the spot. Waves of fear took her outside of her body making her legs and arms feel heavy and numb all at once. She didn't want him to leave her, she wanted to stay in the saftey of his presence. She knew if she was with him nothing bad could happen, but on her own…

The grip on her chin tightened and she could feel the thick blunt claw of his thumb press into her cheek. Kian let out a series of warning clicks that pulled her back to the present and she nodded.

Looking back over his shoulder, towards the door, he paused and stared before quickly looking back at her. Flattening his hand against the side of her face he ran his fingers into the depths of her curls and cupped the side of her head in a gesture that made Tamara close her eyes with a sigh.

"You will not let yourself get caught, human," he ordered roughly, despite the gentleness of his touch.

Leaning into his hand, Tamara opened her eyes and nodded feeling some of her fear being replaced with determination.

Standing up, Kian stepped back and turned to face the door. Grabbing a short spear that was hooked onto the back of his waist armor he stood poised and ready for a battle. With a click of his thumb the short spear elongated with a vicious snap.

Turning his head, Kian looked over his shoulder to her one last time. "I am not finished with you yet, Tamara."

Those words played through her head, dancing with her curiosity and fear as he ran through the activated door and gunfire ricocheted with loud clanging reports down the metal hallway. Tamara focused on the meaning of the words as she covered her ears with her hands and folded herself even smaller into the corner driving all other thoughts out. Did he mean that he wasn't finished with her sexually or did he mean he wasn't finished toying with her before he eventually killed her or tossed her aside? She let her mind work over every nuance of the meaning and replay every encounter they have had from the beginning with precise detail as she desperately tried to ignore the shrieking roar that shook the walls or the terrified screams of men followed by wet sounds of mutilation. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to focus on the memories of his touch from earlier but with each second that passed and the sounds of chaos and thumping vibrations against the wall it was becoming harder and harder to focus.

Eventually the sounds quieted for a minute before picking back up at a distance. Sitting perfectly still, she waited until the minutes dragged by and there was no sound at all. Putting her earpiece back into her ear, she shakily pressed the screen of her comm device and listened to the scanner. The flurry of desperate yelling back and forth between the Red Blade officers signaled Kian was still quite alive and on a killing rampage in the next district. This was her chance.

Getting up, she contemplated putting on her one shoe but decided against it. It was just too awkward to run with only one shoe. Activating the view screen on the door, Tamara nearly stumbled back from the scene in the hallway. Two feet from the door was a body of an officer—missing an arm. Listening for a few seconds she heard nothing. She needed to move fast before someone was sent to inspect the scene or maybe even collect the bodies. Opening the door, Tamara's nose crinkled at the overwhelming smell of blood. Stepping past the mutilated body, her stomach lurched at the sight of two more men strewn across the floor further down the hall. One man's neck was nearly completely detached from his body while another man laid face down in a pool of blood. Eyeing the guns near the body she immediately discounted the passing thought of taking it, each of their guns were coded to the officer's biometrics, they wouldn't work for her anyway.

Cringing at the feeling of warm blood soaking through her socks, Tamara ran down the hall to the elevator. Once she was outside, she took an escalator to the higher levels. By now the city was an absolute ghost town, lights that were usually on in shops and bodegas were out. Metal riot doors were pulled down covering nearly all the windows and doors on the street level while the windows of apartments and offices above were dark and hollow. It felt as if everyone was either off planet or dead and she was the only one left on this sunless hell-hole. Coming up on another escalator, Tamara immediately ducked behind an outdoor advertisement pylon. Poking her head out just a bit she could see three Red Blade officers standing with their weapons in hand at the top of the decommissioned escalator. Pulling up her active map of the city, Tamara's stomach dropped at the sight of the red circular marker at each upper level entrance. They were blocking off sections of the city, which meant she wasn't going to get home.

Something cold hit her elbow. Turning to look she felt another drop hit her neck, then her shoulder before she felt dozens and dozens of tiny droplets coat her body. Great, just great! It was raining and she was stuck nearly five sectors away from home. Nothing was open, she couldn't go back to that crime scene, and the Red Blade was everywhere.

_"Attention, attention,"_ the female voice of the outdoor automated speaker system began to speak. The bright colorful neon lights that normally surrounded nearly every building above and below on each level blinked on for a moment and changed to a red banner with scrolling text. _"All citizens of quadrants 343-504 please return to your homes. This is a mandatory lockdown. I repeat all citizens of quadrants 343-504 return to your home, this is a mandatory lockdown."_

Fuck, she was trapped. Now what?

"Where the fuck have you been?!" Geno lunged for her just as she rounded the corner to the side entrance to the Red Lamp Tower.

Grabbing her by the arm he pulled her to him giving her a caustic look mixed with something wrong and greedy. She could feel his eyes settle on her breasts covered by her now soaked tank top and for the second time that day she wished she had her hoodie.

"What the fuck 'appened to ya?" Packer's amused voice cut through Geno's anger pulling her attention to his large portly frame atop the tiny metal stool by the door. He was looking at her sock clad feet and drenched form with a note of laughter as if witnessing some sort of distressed animal.

" -I got caught out during the lockdown. C-can I come to work?" She asked softly.

Packer gave her a considering look as he leaned back in his stool. The metal gave off a distressed squeak under his shifting girth as he leaned against the building. "You plan to fuck?"

Startled, she gave him a pained pleading look.

Packer snorted. "Then get the fuck out of 'ere. I need gurls to make me sum money to make up for this slump we are in."

"Please," she began. She needed to get out of this rain and stay away from the Red Blade. "You can keep my wages."

As if debating the decision, he gave her a scrutinizing look as he scratched at his jowls. "Fully nude, for four nights to make up what you cost me."

She nodded, ignoring the acrid burn in her throat. Tamara had no intentions of ever coming back after tonight, she just needed a place to hide for now. Even if she had to take a job scraping dead bodies off the streets, she would never come back to this place ever again.

"Good," he nodded satisfied at the unfair bargain. Looking at Geno, Packer inclined his head with a jerk. "Let her go."

Geno's grip on her arm tightened painfully as he glared at Packer. "No, I want…"

Hefting his weight from the stool with surprising speed Packer stood to his full height and gave Geno a dark look that sent shivers down her body. Geno's hand immediately released her as he recognized the mistake her made. Despite being in better physical shape than Packer, Geno and everyone else knew never to cross the fat bastard. As a man of power in the city, Packer's word was law and his retribution was legendary. Above all else Packer liked power, the indolent man got off on controlling others and reminding people of the strings he held against him. One of the reasons Tamara chose Packer's establishment over the others was because of Packer's unique code of discipline. There was a story of a bouncer who once tried to force a girl for sex, an act that would have broken one of Packer's golden rules, no free sex. Which in turn meant no rape by any of his staff. No one ever survived Packer's bad side, the bouncer's body was gutted and tossed out the window for everyone to see.

Stepping away from Geno, Tamara shuffled to the door and waited for Packer's dismissal.

"Get to dancing gurl," Packer drawled but his angry glare was still set on Geno. "And ya better put some life into it, I'll be watchin."

Nodding, she hurried away relieved to get away from his anger.

The music drifted in and around her awareness as her body swayed to its rhythm. The larger red box she was assigned to was high in the tower, overlooking the dark rainy expanse of the city surrounding her. The emergency protocols had even reached this sector, the bright red flashing lights warning citizens to go home competed with the boxes of the Red Lamp tower and shutting down all unnecessary display lights past level three hundred. Only the interior red light of her box glowed, like a single flickering flame alone in a sea of dark dead structures high in the sky. Her dancing was pointless, there were no lights up here and no one out to _advertise_ to, but she danced regardless.

Turning her back to the window she shut her eyes as she pushed her hips forward and let them dip and move to the song's beat while her mind ran free. Where was Kian? Was he alive or maybe even hurt again? Images of the massacred men in the hallway of that apartment building came back to her; or was he still currently continuing his slaughter of the Red Blade officers?

With her eyes still closed she let her hands smooth over her bare stomach recalling the way Kian's thick black claws had gently scraped along the vulnerable skin earlier. Tamara couldn't deny the hot tingling feeling building in her core at the memory of his touch no matter how hard she tried. She shouldn't regret the loss of his touch, he was a monster for star's sake. Although, she couldn't stop thinking of what would have happened between them if they hadn't been interrupted. Raking her hands over her naked breasts she turned towards the glass, not opening her eyes, as she let the small fantasy play out in her head.

A whoosh of cool air buffeted against her hot skin causing Tamara to open her eyes. Puzzled she looked to the small air-con in the corner of the room before eyeing the door. Shrugging the thought away she turned gracefully on the ball of her foot as she found the rhythm to the song again. This booth was larger than the ones she normally worked in, it was about the size of two of the booths put together. The larger booths were taller and had a lot more features than the tiny booths, allowing the women to activate various items they might need such as a pole, a drawer of toys and lubricants, and some booths even had a bed for the _johns_ who didn't mind fucking while passersbys watched.

Resting her shoulder blades back against the cool glass, Tamara arched her back and let both of her hands descend down the bow of her body gliding along her breasts, stomach, her waist until coming to a jolting stop at the sudden pressure around her hips. Opening her eyes with a start, she froze at the feeling of hands gripping her, but as she looked down there was nothing to see only something she could feel. It took five terrifying seconds for her brain to realize what was happening and take a shuddering breath of relief.

"Kian," she whispered. Looking ahead of her she could see nothing but she could feel his large hand flex against her hips and could feel the heat of him radiating against her naked body.

"I told you to go home," his damaged voice whispered harshly in the nothingness in front of her.

"I tr-tried," she stammered. "I c-couldn't it was all blocked."

He let out an unsatisfied growl while his hands raked down her hips and boldly curved over her bare ass, squeezing the fatty globes with appreciation.

Feeling that mutinous arc of heat soar inside of her again Tamara turned her head to the side as she pushed her hips further into his hands. By the stars she wanted him to touch her, she wanted it so bad her skin practically burned for it. She knew it was dangerous and she knew she shouldn't but she needed it. Being around him even for these past few days made her realize she was craving something. She craved to be touched and cared for, she loved the way this monstrous thing touched her with restrained gentleness, shielded her, protected her, and showed her things she only dreamed about. She didn't think she could live with the rest of her life not experiencing this creature's touch. Even if he left tomorrow and she was back to her isolation she needed this moment.

"Please Kian," she pleaded, reaching out blindly to the air in front of her until she could feel the rough hide of his body.

A deep resonating click echoed off the walls around her becoming very fast, before slowing into an eerie staccato. She felt him move from her grasp and she nearly let out a whimper until she felt his massive body shift before her and felt his hands grasp each of her thighs pushing them apart. Unable to see him she felt her him settle between her legs. Metal clanked at her feet and she watched as the now slightly visible outline of his cloaked body removed his shoulder armor and finally his mask, each uncloaking once he sat them on the floor. Lifting one of her legs, he placed it over her shoulder and Tamara knew immediately what he planned to do.

Fear and hot excitement rushed through her blood stream as she thought of his deadly mouth. Feeling a puff of warm air from his mouth on her exposed folds she braced her hands flat against the glass.

"Kian, the cameras I-I…w-wha-what if P-Packer sees…" she could barely form the words, the justified fear was quickly being pushed out of her thoughts as she felt the invisible creature's tusk gently glide the smooth length of them down her damp folds.

Tamara could Kian open his mandibles wide against her, slightly scraping her soft thighs with his tusk but he did not answer her. Instead he pulled her hips closer, pressing her aching sex against his deadly mouth. All worries dissipated from her mind instantly at the hot feeling of his tongue against her folds. Reaching one hand down to his head, Tamara clutched onto the thick rubbery dreads between her legs while her other hand pressed against the glass. Just like in that abandoned apartment those beuatiful unseen ridges in his tongue came back to torment her. It was as if his tongue was lined by circular fissures designed to torture. Each moment of smooth wet licking from his expert tongue was followed by a rough drag of the deep grooves of his tongue. Tamara found herself crying and begging as she rocked her hips against his devouring face. Up here alone in this room with this creature she didn't care who saw them. She didn't care if Geno and Packer were watching her on the cameras right now with her leg thrown over some invisible beast while he ate her out or if the entirety of the Red Blade forces were hovering behind her outside. She didn't care about anything other than what Kian was doing to her.

Rough. Smooth. Rough. Smooth. Over and over, back and forth his tongue moved against her flicking and laving, torturing and teasing her. She was…she was… about to…her body tightened and her toes curled as her back arched and her one foot left the ground completely as she rode his face. Letting out a scream, her hands tightened in his dreads as she rode the unbearable wave of pleasure. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook her head from side to side in silent protest as he continued flicking her abused clit.

"Please Kian, please…stop," her voice was a strangled mess, but the beast beneath her did not comply until a smaller but just as powerful sensuous wave rippled through her making her cry out once again before collapsing completely.

Holding the limp female with one arm, Kian stood uncloaked at his full height closing his eyes for a moment. The taste of her, the response from her all of it was unlike anything he could have imagined. His iron control was slipping. All he wanted to do was shove the female against the wall and bury himself inside of her, he wanted to release a roar so deep and so violent his ancestors would hear it with pride. He wanted to lose himself in her soft, responsive body more than he ever wanted anything-but he wouldn't. She would never survive such a mating nor would this timid female ever look at him again with the heavy lidded look of lust as she looked at him with now. No, he would maintain his discipline with her.

Pushing her back against the window, Kian watched with immense satisfaction as she dazedly complied to his silent instructions. Putting hers arms around his neck he could feel her hands tighten in his spines, a gesture she seemed to like doing. Gripping her thighs, he lifted her to his waist and held her easily. Due to the difference in their size he was forced to stoop so that she could maintain her grip around his neck.

Wide expressive brown eyes stared at him with a vast array of unsaid emotions. Humans had so many emotions at once, layered in subtilties and nuances it was hard for him to recognize all of them. Fear however, was the most prominent in her expressive face.

"You w-w-wont hurt me w-will you?"

There was something odd about the way his body reacted to her impaired speech. He liked it. The human defect in this female did not disgust him in the least as it should have. In fact, he liked to see her trip over her words in his presence, it was an odd, telling abnormality that revealed much of what she was feeling.

Shifting her slight weight to one hand, he reached for the clasp of his waist armor, noting the way her eyes widened somehow further as she followed his movements. Unclasping the armor, he let it fall with a loud clanking thud onto the metal floor. "I can," he paused, slowly following the line of her terrified gaze to his cock. "But I will not," he added.

Nodding, she pulled in her bottom lip between her teeth as he adjusted his hand back to the curve of her ass. He could feel her wetness slide against the curving ridge of his cock. Pulling his hips back, Tamara let out a small whimpering moan as she felt the head of his cock press against her tight entrance. Fear clamped down over heart as she looked up to see Kian's neon green eyes glowing so bright in the dimly lit room. This was going to kill her. The last time she had sex was years ago with a boy back on her home planet. Her body certainly wasn't ready for this. Pressing further in, Tamara winced at the burning pain as her entrance unwillingly accepted his girth.

"Kian," she whimpered helplessly.

A clawed hand thumped loudly against the glass over her head startling her from her pain momentarily. Leaning his head forward, Tamara was surprised as she watched Kian rest his forehead against the glass. Breathing heavily near her ear she felt his mandibles flex in and out against the top of her head. Still partly inside of her, Kian did not advance any farther.

"Ki.."

"Do not move," he rasped roughly. "Do not make a sound, female."

Why, she wondered warily.

Eventually he spoke. Growling next to her ear in frustration. "I should not want you in this way human. You are inadequate in many ways. Nothing about you is yautja," he snarled.

Bursts of needling pain shot out in the depths of her heart at his words. Hurt, she prayed he wouldn't say anymore.

He did.

"Mating should be dominance. Warfare. An act of securing my legacy. Your cries damn us both and awaken the hunt in me. When I look at you human, I have thoughts, thoughts only the dishonorable should have. I want you on your knees human, I want your wet cunt around me as I fill you with my seed. It angers me beyond my discipline to see you undressed for these human men," the venom in his rasping snarl as he said that made Tamara shudder. "I want you to beg me for my cock as I rip the spines of every last human on this waste of a planet."

His words were burning her alive. His deep guttural pronunciation of the lewd words made her sex clench around him taking him inches deeper. Leaning her head against his chest, she nearly smiled at his resulting groan.

For some reason his barbaric confession took away some of the hurt from his stinging words. Even if it was just sex and maybe even for just this night, it felt good to be wanted. Nuzzling her face against his scaled chest, she felt him sink deeper into her until finally with a small grunt on her part she felt his hips meet hers. Two clawed hands slid from her waist to her knees before pushing them painfully upward. Groaning in protest at the unnatural position, Tamara looked to Kian with confusion.

Never taking his eyes from hers, Kian held her half folded against the glass as he pulled back his hips. Sliding his thick length partly out of her wet entrance before pushing himself back in with a quick jolt. Tamara let out a small cry at the sudden movement but didn't have time to recover. Again, he was pulling back and again he was pushing forward. Her sharp repetitive cries filled the space until they slowly changed into lengthy moans punctuated by his deep growls. Holding her firmly against the glass Kian didn't allow her body to move to meet his thrust, forcing her to take every thrust as he gave it. Wrapping her arms tighter around his neck she cried his name as the building tension in her body broke free. His grip slid to her hips, his big scaly hands covering her plump ass almost entirely as he pulled and pushed her hips to meet his with a frenzied pace. Finally, with a sudden piercing roar Kian's body went rigid as he coated her womb with his thick seed. The hot feeling of his release inside of her brought upon another overwhelming explosion of color behind her eyelids as she cried into his shoulder.

Blunt claws scraped against her scalp as the hand speared gently through her hair. Closing into a fist into her tangled curls, Kian lifted her head back and away from his shoulder. Carnal satisfaction shined back from his eyes as he stared at her.

"Rest now, my human. We will continue soon."

A/N

Remember when I said this was gonna be rapey…well dammit I changed my mind. I wanted it to be but I ended up getting a puppy who has overtaken my damn life and while I was standing out in the yard everyday telling someone to go "potty" I started thinking about my characters more and changing the plot. Its still going to be mad short but just different than intended. Oh yeah check out my real books to, they are nasty too.


	8. Chapter 8

Naked and exhausted, Tamara cracked open one eye at the feeling of movement. Standing up to his full height, Kian walked away from the bed towards the bathroom. Like herself, he was completely bare, free from his armor and weapons. Watching him walk away, something deep inside of her stirred at the image of his muscular, otherworldly body. Closing her eyes, she sighed at the memories of that last two nights spent being underneath and sometimes on top of that big body.

He had been relentless. After leaving the Red Lamp Tower under the safety of his cloaking technology, Kian stayed true to his word taking her directly back home and resuming their lovemaking. Turning her face deeper into her pillow, Tamara stretched her stiff body atop the wrinkled sheets at the memory of his slow sensual assault. Kian had been surprisingly careful with her. She expected to feel pain, to have bruises and claw marks marring her body-she had none of that. She was sore of course, but that was to be expected. No, making love with Kian was nothing like she had imagined. When he carried her back through her window, she feared he would rip at her clothes demanding use of her body immediately, but he did nothing. Once inside, he sat back down on her floor and watched as she hesitantly went towards the bathroom for a quick shower. When she emerged, he was still quietly sitting, looking at a holographic display above his gauntlet at odd symbols and red markings she could not understand. Walking around him, she tip-toed in her towel to the wall across from him to pull out the hidden panel which stored her clothes. Though he said nothing, she could feel the pressure of his gaze on the back of her bare legs as she moved. The tension in the air was so thick, Tamara could hardly swallow. Gripping the edge of the towel around her breasts tighter, she risked a peek over her shoulder. Bright green eyes met hers immediately. Unable to tear her gaze from his, she turned slowly to face him. Her skin felt tight and sensitive under his watchful stare, places on her body awakened and ached as she read the hunger in his gaze, but still he made no movements. Frustration pricked along her senses, making her restless. Dropping the underwear back in the drawer, she shut it with a decisive snap and turned back to Kian. Walking forward, she closed the space between them and stopped. Looking down at him for once, she lifted her free hand to his face and cupped it gently letting her thumb glide across the concaved curve of his mandibles. Puffs of hot air released from his mouth hitting against the damp towel wrapped around her. Neither one of them said anything as they stared at one another, waiting for the other to act, to make the first move.

Her frustration won. Pulling at the towel, she let it fall away from her body leaving her naked standing before him. Deep resonating clicking sounds rolled from his chest as he lifted both hands to grip her thighs. Pulling her forward until she was forced to step over his crossed legs and stand in the warm space in between, Kian pressed his face into the softness of her stomach before tightening his grip and standing with her in one fluid motion. Raising her above his head, he leaned her body against him, her bare breasts pressing against his face and pushing against his blunt tusks. Placing soft kisses along the top of his head, Tamara let out a moan at the feel of his rumbling growl. Walking her to the bed, he gently lowered her down. Tamara frowned when she watched him reach for the latch on his armored belt. Kian's hand stopped. A low growl churned in his chest with frustration as he cocked his head, giving her a silent questioning stare.

"Can you t-take off all of it?" She asked, her voice small and unsure.

Kian stared at her for a long moment as if considering her request. She wondered if the hunter ever really took off all of his armor?

Her heart leapt in surprise as she watched him slowly acquiesce to her request, standing up straighter to reach for the first piece. Slowly, he unsnapped hidden latches on the circular gold collar, loosening the snug fitting metal from his thick neck subsequently loosening the connected armor on his back. Letting the weight of the complicated piece work with him, he caught the armor as it slid down his back and gently lowered it to the floor. Next, he removed his gauntlets, tossing them each atop the pile he made. Reaching down, he unstrapped his greaves, stepping out of the tall boot-like structures before finally reaching for his belt. Excited and beyond ready, Tamara leaned back onto her elbows as she watched him remove the final piece. Completely bare now, Kian towered at the edge of the bed, between her dangling legs. Ridged, bulbous, and veined the sight of his green cock scattered her coherent thoughts. This time she was at a much better angle to see him clearly. Her mouth watered and her core ached at the memory of it sliding into her. Looking up to him, she did not miss the flare of his ego within his beady bright eyes as he watched her study him. Leaning back fully onto the mattress, she spread her arms and beckoned him forward willing and ready to accept anything he could give her.

And give her he did. Unhindered by armor and unrestricted by their surroundings Tamara closed her eyes and immersed herself in the pleasure he gave.

The clanking of metal snatched her away from her thoughts, looking up, she watched as Kian put back on his golden armor. Watching him, her stomach sank and that familiar cold loneliness seeped into her heart and spread through her veins. He was leaving. Was this it? Was he leaving for good or would he come back? Opening her mouth, the words she desperately wanted to ask caught in her throat as he donned the evil looking mask over his face. Sitting up on the bed, her stomach grumbled in hunger. She had hardly eaten in the past two days. Ignoring the tiny aches of hunger, Tamara tucked the sheet under her arms and pulled her knees up to her chest as Kian attached his second gauntlet to his forearm.

Silently, he walked to her window before looking back at her. Surely, he could see the desperate look in her eyes as she sat up straighter in response. Couldn't he see that she needed him?

Catching herself Tamara looked away. No, she didn't want him to see that part of her. She didn't _need_ him, she reminded herself firmly. She survived this long on her own, she wouldn't break down now just because she felt a moment of shining happiness in her dark world.

Without a word, Kian activated her window and climbed out, letting it shut behind him.

Sinking back down to the pillow, Tamara shut her eyes to the tears that stung the back of her eyes. Morosely, she wondered if this was how first-time girls at the Red Lamp Tower felt after a customer left? Remembering the card Kian showed her when they first met a sudden anger bubbled to life within her forcing her to sit up in the bed. Tossing back the sheets with a snap, she marched to the bathroom. Shame coiled itself around her frustration as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. In a matter of days, she let some seven plus foot alien ruin years of careful defenses. She let him force herself to face the cold ugly facts that she was miserably lonely on this hopeless shithole planet.

If he was done with her, fine. Swiping away the tears, she turned on the shower. Stepping into the spray she let herself feel the pain of his absence just for a moment longer before pushing the painful thoughts down like the lump in her throat. There were more pressing matters that needed her attention-as if on cue her stomach grumbled again, this time far more painfully. She needed food.

Drying off and dressing in another pair of dark jeans and a plain black shirt, Tamara swept her wild curls into a ponytail and grabbed her spare hoodie and a backpack. Sitting on the edge of her bed she pulled up some code on her data-pad.

Ok, all the shops in Nova Hermes were closed. A few official and unofficial reports were stating that the remaining citizens and leftover faction criminals still left on the planet had tried and failed at attempted looting. Apparently, the Red Blade has unleashed their final and ultimate defense - android forces. Along with their drones that roved the city, the humanoid androids were now given the orders to shoot to kill. No more arrests, no more trials, no chances whatsoever. If you were out past curfew, caught committing a crime, or in the same sector of the terrosist you would be executed.

But she needed food or she was going to die a slow death anyways.

So, stores were out of the question. With the open streets so heavily patrolled breaking into a store was definitely out of the question. Leaving her with really just one option, scavenging for food leftover in people's abandoned apartments. Bringing up the live map of the city, she blinked in wide eyed stillness at the blazing red map. Nearly every section, including her own was under strict lockdown. Ok, she thought chewing on her lip, that left her with even fewer options. Looking towards the window, she thought of the few people she suspected that may still be in the building on the higher floors and how abandoned all the lower floors were. Breaking into the units in her own building wasn't an option. The string of code she bought and customized for breaking into units would not work on the locks in her building, it was one of the reasons she chose the building. But the building next door however was a different matter.

Grabbing her bag and comm device, she hesitated as she stepped towards the door. This was a stupid idea. Her eyes settled onto her kitchenette on the far side of the room, mentally seeing past the closed cabinet doors to the bare shelves inside. She had to go though, she had to do something, she literally had nothing to eat. Yesterday she had eaten the last of her crackers as Kian sat quietly on her floor looking at his holographic maps of the city, tracking the Red Blade's movements. Resentfully, she had wondered what the big bastard even ate. Moving before her doubts could stop her again, she walked out of her apartment.

It took way longer than it should have to get to the next building. Half the time was spent standing in the entrance alcove to her building looking and listening for passing drones. Every second it felt like she was being watched, as if eyes were staring at her. Once she finally got the courage to dash across the short distance of the diamond-nite bridge that connected the two buildings she felt a hundred years older from the stress. Taking the elevator to the lower levels of the building, levels that should theoretically be abandoned she tried to ignore the thumping of her frantic heart. Online forums were filled with people reporting that the lower levels of buildings were at a higher risk to be targeted by leftover faction criminals and or worse the terrorist. The rumors, of course, were completely unfounded nonsense but it became self-fulfilling leaving units abandoned by their owners and vulnerable for break in for criminals-and now her.

Deciding not to go too far down, she stopped only two floors down. If something were to happen, she didn't want to be so far away from the bridge level that she couldn't take the stairs quickly. Stepping into the hallway, she stopped and stared down the long silent stretch of doors. Silent abandonment was an element she never really thought about before, couldn't really, not in a city filled to the brim with never-ending people. Now it was a key ingredient to her rebellious thoughts that rioted through her head creating shadowy figures in corners where there were none, startling sounds when there was just silence, and the feeling of being watched when there was no one. Swallowing the lump of fear stuck high in her throat, she took a deep breath and forced herself to choose a door. Settling for a random door near the elevator she held up her comm device to the lock and activated the code. The seconds dragged by excruciating torture as she stared at the waterfall of code working on the lock. Each second, her gut twisted tighter and tighter fighting against her resolve not to just abandon this whole thing here and now.

With a motorized click, the lock deactivated.

Tamara let out a deep breath she wasn't even aware she was holding, giving her pained stomach a moment of reprieve. Stepping into the unit, she prayed over and over again there was enough food in this person's cabinets for this to be her only trip.

Inside she stopped short at the entrance, letting her eyes adjust to the semi-darkeness of the room. Unlike her apartment this unit had two large windows along the wall opposite the front door. Orangish-red light filtered in from the scrolling neon text outside that cycled along every building, warning any remaining citizens of the current lockdown. Similar to her own unit in layout, Tamara couldn't help the overpowering reminder of the last apartment she broke into with Kian. Where was he? The question flitted through her mind for what seemed like the hundredth time in the half hour he left, only to be rivaled by the question: will he come back? Her fingers twitched with the overwhelming urge to check her comm and read any and all the reports around the city, to try and digitally track the hunter's movements.

Taking a deep breath, she mentally admonished herself for the pure weakness she was putting herself through. She needed to focus. She was currently in the middle of breaking and entering during a planet wide lockdown. Worrying about if a giant monster was going to come back to her life or even her bed was not a priority. Forcing herself to take a step forward then another she made her way to the kitchenette. Besides, she mentally grumbled, she knew the moment she allowed him to go further with her in that booth that night, that this _thing_ between them was just both of them satisfying a need, his temporary and hers-complicated.

Standing in the kitchen area, she glanced back to the scattered items on the bed: a pile of clothes and what looked to be diamond-nite mining equipment. From the clothes, the sparseness in furniture and décor, and of course the mining equipment she could only assume a man lived here. Turning to the cabinets, she held her breath and pressed in on the door letting it auto-slide open.

Relief flooded her veins as she took in the multitude of bottled foods. There were beans, soups, even a bottle of preserved peaches. Opening the fridge, she smiled even brighter at the packed pie crust. He must have been planning to make a cheap homemade pie, she concluded sadly. Swinging her bag off her back, Tamara loaded it up with everything she could grab. When this was all over maybe she would anonymously send the guy some money, if she could spare it of course. But right now, she had no qualms taking the supplies. Seeing that she had a bit more room she looked up and stared at the open door to his bathroom. Her supply of toilet paper wasn't going to last forever.

Setting her heavy backpack on the kitchen counter, she hurried to his bathroom. Grabbing the fresh three rolls from under the sink cabinet she turned back towards the kitchen and stopped with a scream on her lips.

Standing a few feet in front of her with his feet braced and fists clenched at his sides Geno stood staring at her with an unholy gleam of satisfaction on his face.

"You're mine now," he laughed evilly.

Another scream erupted from her throat as the rolls of toilet paper flew out of her hand. Scrambling backward, she frantically hit the switch to activate the sliding bathroom door. Taking its time, the door let out a faint beep and began to close, but it wasn't nearly fast enough. Lunging forward Geno's hand caught the door and grabbed at her with his other. Arms flailed between them as she went wild in his hold striking him in any place she could get of hold of while he attempted to fend off the brunt of the attack and still pull her forward out of the bathroom. Through her panic, Tamara knew she stood little chance at fighting off Geno once he pulled her out of the small hard to maneuver bathroom. Her only chance was to run at the first opportunity she had to break away. Using the sink for leverage, Tamara threw a wild kick at his midsection feeling his off-balance body move backward with her leveraged kick. Seizing her chance, she did the last thing he expected and followed his momentum out of the small bathroom doorway making a quick break to her left for the front door.

The brief moment of desperate hope that flared to life in her stomach as she outstretched her hand to the front door died instantly at the feeling of his hand closing painfully around her shoulder. Without warning, she was violently yanked back so hard her feet couldn't keep up with the force of it. Sparks flashed behind her eyelids as searing pain crashed through the side of her head. Absently a part of her brain registered that she had been slammed into a wall before being thrown to the metal floor.

"No rules to stop me now," Geno growled, his voice thick with unmasked lust and manic satisfaction.

Tamara wasn't sure if words actually came out of her mouth or were, they were just groans of pain as she felt him straddled her onto the ground. The warmth of his body covering hers made her sick enough to try and push through the severity of her head injury and reach up to claw at his eyes or hit him-do something.

The attempt earned her smack across the face. The pressure of his large hand making contact with her face seemed comically slowed down, forcing her to feel every second of the painful impact as he rocked her injured head to the side. Her arms fell limply to the floor.

"Fuck, I can hardly wait," his voice sounded distant and close all at once. Sounds of ripping fabric rang through her brain. The feeling of hot breath on her skin followed by his wet mouth on her neck and upper breasts rang like shrill alarms through her senses.

"When you bailed on work, Packer reminded me his rules only apply at the Tower," he grinned against her cheek as his knee forced its way between her legs and rubbed at her center. "I came to pay you a visit and here I find you breaking into people's places. Hell, I think the Red Blade would give me a fucking award for this."

Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she felt the sickening tug of her shirt and bra being pulled and ripped away. Bile rose in her throat at the feeling of his mouth clamping down on one of her nipples. Blindly, she reached around with her hand, forcing herself to stare at the vent on the ceiling as her vision tried to clear and stop spinning.

Her hand found the handled grip of something just as she felt the stinging pain of his other hand grab roughly at her other breast. She didn't wait for her disoriented mind to catch up and register what the item was, she just swung. She swung with every last bit of energy she had, she swung and prayed to anyone beyond the stars to anyone who cared that her aim stayed true.

The serrated hooked tip of the diamond-nite axe hit Geno's head with a sickening thud. His agonized yell was the sweetest sound she had probably ever heard but she could not let herself enjoy it. Forcing her brain to work and her body to obey she crawled out from under his writhing kneeling position and stumbled to stand. Not letting go of the hook axe she made it to the door when she heard him move behind her.

"I'm going to kill you," he bellowed, the sound of his voice was so much closer than she expected.

Knowing she didn't have time to make it through the door, Tamara turned with a wild chaotic scream. Her shirt and bra hung off her torn and ruined exposing one of her breasts, but she ignored all of that as she closed her eyes and swung the axe in every direction in front of her hoping to hit him with at least of the frenzied whacks.

A terrifying ground shaking roar was not what either one of them expected. Instantly her eyes popped open to see Geno's eyes wide and mirroring her shock only inches away. He didn't move, for a split second she had to blink to realize she what was happening. Geno's eyes were wide and terrified as they tracked her eyes, moving to see the tips of black claws framing the edges of his head.

In a blink he was yanked back and up. This time the shrieking roar was accompanied by Geno's scream, but it only lasted for a second before his head and body were lifted into the ceiling with thudding strength. Up his body went and then down to the floor with an almighty force. Tamara watched cowering against the door, too afraid to move or make a sound as Kian slammed the man's body up and down until she was sure he was dead.

Gary made a desperate moaning noise as Kian dropped him to the floor one last time. Tamara winced at the recognition of life. The eyes on Kian's masked glowed brighter at the sound as if excited it wasn't over yet. Kneeling next to the man, Kian slammed his extended claws into the man's back and began to close his fist around his spine. Blood sprayed and Tamara snapped her eyes closed, but it didn't stop the wet visceral sounds. Turning into the door she dropped the axe with a clang and held her hands up to her ears as bone ripped away from flesh. Another piercing roar rang through the small room with deafening pitch. This time she knew for sure Geno was dead.

Coming through the window, Kian sat her onto her feet. Shaky and unsteady Tamara stepped back clutching at her ripped clothing and the bag of food with a painful grip. Everything felt muted and unreal. The silence of her apartment felt deafening, all the while a ringing steadily went off in her ears. Frightened thoughts twisted themselves with images of the attack in her head becoming one unrecognizable form of panic.

The sound of Kian's heavy footstep against the metal floor changed her perspective bringing it forward to the here and now and out of that apartment. Frowning, she stared at his feet. Normally she never heard him walk. Looking up, she realized he had removed his mask. Only the sound of her rapid breathing lay between them.

"Why did you leave?" He took another step forward, closing some of the distance between them and Tamara wasn't sure if she wanted it or not. Geno's blood still coated his hands and chest.

"I needed food," she said quietly, turning from him and letting the heavy bag of food fall from her loosened grip. For a what felt like minutes, she stared unseeingly at the wall across from her.

Again, the sound of movement caught her attention. Stepping in front of her, Kian raised one hand out ward extending his fingers to gesture beyond her. Following his motion, her eyes panned the room until they settled on the huge slab of meat sitting on the kitchen counter. Confusion helped pull her further out of the cloud of shock that had settled over her. Still frozen, the meat looked like something out of an abattoir.

Tamara shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand."

His extended hand curled into a fist at her attention. "Do you believe I will not provide for you, mate?" His voiced rasped with inhuman depth that shook within her chest.

Slowly her frown grew deeper until she was glaring up at him. Later she would reflect on the bit of satisfaction she felt at his stunned blink in response. Irritation sparked to life within her and she took her own menacing step forward. "You left _**me**_," she emphasized slowly. "How was I supposed to know you would even come back, much less consider the fact that I have run out of food?" Shaking her head, she turned from him and stomped toward the bathroom door unable to keep herself still.

There was just too much pumping through her veins right now. Quaking fear made her hands shake while a surge of anger was making her want to scream on top of an overwhelming sense of fatigue that made her want to crumble to the floor and never get up again. All of it she was desperately trying to keep it under control but so much of it was threatening to tear her apart.

Turning back to him, she just blinked at his proximity. He was standing right in front of her near the bathroom door, having made no sound of movement. Ignoring it, she continued. "I-I-I," pausing she took a deep breath and gathered herself. "I had t-to consider you weren't coming back," she whispered.

A heavy silence hung in the air. Lifting up, Kian's hand stopped midair between them pausing in his reach for her. They both looked at the dark dried blood on his hand. Green eyes pulsed with bright energy as he stepped forward seemingly coming to some sort of internal decision. Taking another step, he crowded her close until she had no choice but to step back. Advancing further he forced her to repeat the process until they were both in the bathroom. Reaching for his armor, he looked directly at her as he began to remove the first piece of dark gold armor. Removing his torso armor he reached one clawed hand to the shower control. Black claws clicked against the metal and glass panel as he activated the warm spray above. Feeling her energy dwindle down to its last reserves, she slowly did the same.

Backing into the water, Tamara closed her eyes at the warmth of the water cascading over her head and the encompassing presence of the creature that followed her in. Strokes of red painted the swirling water beneath them before eventually running clear. Thoughts of Geno's attack disappeared as she reached up and wrapped both arms around Kian's neck smiling as he lifted her easily in his grasp. Hooking her legs around him, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I cannot take you with me mate, I hunt alone," his deep whispered words threaten to steal her breath away as he spoke the words she desperately did not want to hear. Tamara turned her face into his scaled hide, clenching her eyes shut as her throat constricted. "You would be a distraction," Kian continued. "Until the Red Blade leader has been killed by my hand, you will stay inside," he commanded evenly. "I will provide you food. Once I finish my hunt, we leave for Carnak."

Pushing herself up from his shoulder, she met his eyes directly. She couldn't read anything from them. Small black pupils stared at her within his bright green orbs, primal and waiting as he stared back. Shaking her head, she sought clarification. "Wait. Y-you m-mean to take me w-with you?"

"You are mine, mate. You will come with me."

Hope was too dangerous to feel. It was a foreign emotion her body couldn't process. Shakily she cupped one hand to his mandibles. "Please Kian, please explain. W-w-what do you mean by m-mate? You s-said that a moment ago but I don't understand."

His supporting grip on her bottom did not tighten but she could feel his fingers fan against the soft flesh in eagerness. "We belong to each other till death"

Absently her thumb began to stroke at the side rough skin of his mandible. "You want me to be your mate?" She asked breathlessly, still refusing to believe anything until she had all the answers.

"We have already been mated," he said arrogantly as if daring her to refute the fact.

She needed more. She needed to know for sure before she let the odd churning emotion in her gut spring free. "And we would be together…until death? Living…on your planet?"

"Yes," he answered deeply.

No there had to be some kind of catch, there had to be. Nothing in her life ever worked out. "But what about kids," her voice sounded pained. She didn't want to bring this up but she had to. "Don't you want a mate that can give you kids?"

Kian's head cocked to the side as he stared at her. His tiny black pupils caught her eyes and moved to the shining unshed tears before traveling to her quivering lips. She was so close to breaking down, she thought, could he see it?

Finally, he answered, the grip on her ass changing until one hand circled the small of her back and pressed her in close. "There are other yautja with human mates. There is a way."

Tears fell down her eyes mixing in with the spray of the water. With both hands now she cradled his face. "Be honest with me Kian, would you want that? You wouldn't regret choosing me?"

The hard ridge of his browbone lifted in subtle shock before resting back to his naturally fierce position. "Yes, and I will not."

Happiness so bright and pure made her release a small squeal of elation. Placing a kiss between his eyes, Tamara laughed at his blinking shock. Doing it again and again all over his face she wrapped herself tight around him as she rained down the flurry of affectionate marks. Each one left him more confused than before. Slowing down near his mandibles, Tamara placed a softer kiss on his bottom right tusk. Not breaking eye contact she placed another on the bottom left tusk while rubbing her thumbs gently at the base of his mandibles. As if sensing what she wanted he slowly opened his mandible wide, completely revealing his fanged mouth beneath. With not a shred of fear, her eyes grew heavy as she leaned forward and kissed the short sharp teeth. She could feel the muscles in his abs flex and jump beneath her naked sex, sparking her want for more from him. Boldly she kissed the fangs again and again until she could see his tongue move forward. Carefully she tilted her head within the confines of his open mandibles and slid her tongue against his. A wild heat speared through them both. One clawed hand reached for the wall behind her. The screeching sound of claws scraping against the metal wall went unnoticed as danced her tongue with his.

This was happiness she thought sometime later as he carried her to the bed, both in a state of frenzied need. Opening herself to him, she moaned his name and held onto the creature that promised her a future of sunlight and hope.

A/n

Also please remember I write real books o N.


	9. Chapter 9

Planting her hands against the cool metal wall, Tamara leaned her head against it with a moan. With each of his large, clawed hands gripping her hips, Kian held her up half-straddling his chest as he licked and teased her breasts. He had woken her up moments ago, the blunt side of his thick black claw tracing the inside her of her thigh before roughly gripping the soft flesh. Startled, she found herself being spread wide on the bed and a gust of hot air hitting her sex before she felt that accursed tongue against her. She was thankful her apartment building was mostly abandoned because even despite the reinforced metal floors and walls surely any and every one would have heard her wild cries as the creature settled his head between her legs and worked each deep groove of his tongue torturously across her swollen clit.

Now, he was simply toying with her, taking his time to drive her wild yet again. Looking behind her, she could see his cock standing and ready, but he seemingly did not care. She was his prey and he was the hunter in this lurid game and he was devoted to seeing her unravel as many times as possible.

Pushing from the wall, Tamara leaned back in his hold pulling her tender breasts away from his mouth. A deep rumbling growl of agitation vibrated through his chest and against her aching naked sex straddling his chest.

"I want to try something," she said breathlessly, resisting the urge to grind herself against the rough skin pressing against her wet folds.

His answering growl told her he was not interested. Tightening his grip on her waist, he lifted her back to his open mouth. The feeling of his rough tongue sliding across her abused nipples made her cry out and clutch at his head to hold him still. Arcs of wet heat spiraled through her core and she could feel the damp spot she was creating on his chest.

"No, wait," she pleaded, using the last of her strength to pull away once again. "Please Kian, I'm sure you will like it. If not more," she added. Cupping the side of his face, she leaned down and placed a small kiss at the space between his eyes.

The noise he made was somewhere between a huff and a growl, which only made her want to laugh, though she didn't dare. Releasing his hold, he let her slowly slide down until the hot flesh of her center met the hot rigid flesh of his cock. They both let out a deep sound of satisfaction at the contact. Sitting on her bed with one of his massive legs extended along the mattress and the other bent and hanging off the edge, Tamara realized this was the perfect position. Sliding further away from him, closing her eyes briefly to the wonderful feeling of his length sliding against her, she positioned herself on her stomach in the open space between his spread legs. Moving barely a fraction of an inch, Kian tilted his head in a moment of confusion as he watched her. She smiled as comprehension eventually bloomed to life in his eyes making them glow brighter as she laid down fully between his legs. Glancing up to him, she watched as his eyes narrowed in anticipation as she reached for the long hard shaft. A paler green than the rest of his body, the turgid hot length was massive in her hands. Veined and ridged, much like his tongue, the powerful organ felt heavy and full in her hand.

Above her a rolling click began deep in his throat as he watched her lift him to her lips. Focusing back on her target, Tamara opened her mouth and let her tongue flick over the small opening at the tip. She could hear his growl of satisfaction surrounding her but she ignored him and focused on her work. Opening her mouth, she took him inside letting the feel of the rough flesh slide across her smooth wet tongue. Deeper and deeper she finally had to stop as her mouth was opened to its widest point and he filled every inch of it completley. Pulling him back out slowly, she suctioned her mouth around him the best she could wetting him fully with her saliva.

Frowning she stared at the heavy organ and lifted herself higher onto her elbows, changing the position of her head. At a better angle she took him in her mouth again, this time able to fit him much deeper. Closing her eyes, she focused on relaxing her throat as she took him as far as her throat would let her feeling the blunt soft head of his cock hit the back of her throat. Pulling back slowly, she sucked harder this time finding the rhythm she intended to set. Humming against his cock, her pussy clenched at the satisfaction she felt at taking him a bit deeper with another gulping stroke. His growing growls vibrated the air at her accomplishment. Bobbing her head back down, she pumped at the base of his shaft before pulling back as her mouth pulled back as well. Faster she repeated it, pumping his fat cock deeper into her mouth, sucking him off before pushing him back down her throat. Above her the familiar sound of the metal walls being scored against his claws screeched through the air before being drowned out with his louder growls.

Yes, she thought. They were both so close. Her pussy was so hot and wet knowing how this was making him feel, knowing she was making this powerful creature lose control.

A hand settled on the back of her head and Tamara's eyes rolled back in her head at the pleasure. Fingers tightened in her hair and the pressure of his hand roughly took over. Controlling her movements now, Kian plunged himself deeper into her throat enjoying the vibrations of her moans before pulling her back to the very tip. Over and over he used her throat to his pleasure, pushing her head back and forth on his thick shaft. Tears streaked down her eyes at the choking feeling but she forced herself to relax as he continued. The muscles in his thighs tensed on either side of her and his pace slowed, turning into deep gasping thrust down her throat. Wet suctioning noises from her mouth joined his inhuman groans that echoed in the room. Reaching forward she cupped the heavy weight of his balls and felt him tense at once. Holding her steady with her nose buried at the base of his stomach, thick ropes of cum shot out and coated the back of her throat. With no choice, Tamara looked up. His eyes were burning bright and mandibles flexing in and out as she swallowed his thick load. She expected there to be a taste of some sort as she worked her throat muscles around the penetrating length to swallow all that she could and she was surprised she had no problem at all swallowing the thick substance. Finally, his grip on the back of her head loosened, allowing her to move. Pumping the softening cock slowly in and out of her mouth she made sure to get every drop of his cum before finally pulling away. Breathlessly and a little weak from her own orgasm, she kneeled shakily on the bed and looked at him. One of his arms was spread along the top of her headboard to her bed, with his head back and his eyes closed Kian breathed heavily. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked back down at her. Reaching out a hand, he closed it around the back of her neck and pulled her close. Happily she complied, leaning fully against his chest.

Closing her eyes at the feeling of his hand in her hair, Tamara tried to ignore the surge of warmth around her heart. She didn't dare label or acknowledge the emotion spreading from her heart and warming her body. Turning her face deeper into his chest she hid the smile that played on her lips.

#

Asop Rackus swiped his arm across his desk with a furious roar toppling the items to the floor. His office, the Red Blade command center, a place that was normally teaming with activity was practically dead-along with nearly all its members. Four hundred highly trained officers, ranging from ex-colonial marines to terran trained ground soldiers all decimated within weeks. Stumbling back against his desk, Asop looked around his office. In the middle was the large table that floated above the floor with twenty hovering chairs placed around it, a place where all of his captains just met a few weeks ago. Their numbers dwindling each day from that point, the mood changing from idle curiosity about the new threat to unhinged panic as they tried to recount what they heard from their men and what they had seen on their body cams before they were brutally killed.

Grabbing blindly for his glass of whiskey, Asop snatched it from the diamond-nite surface of his desk ignoring the slosh of cool liquid washing over his fingers. Taking a deep gulp of the burning liquid until the glass was empty, he thought of his lieutenant's body hanging from ceiling downstairs in the lobby: no skin and no spine. Anger blurred his vision as he curled his fingers around the glass and hurled it at the large window overlooking the dark city. The glass shattered into a million little sparkling pieces on impact with the diamond-nite window.

A beep went off in the office. A noise that would have immersed itself in the usual din of noise barely being able to be heard, but was now loud and stark amongst the absence of life. Asop didn't bother looking at the holographic screen above, he knew who was calling-the council. They had fled the moment they realized that the "_threat_" wasn't just some raging criminal that was trying to make a name for himself amongst the factions. Safely sequestered on Nova Hermes's small cruiser class vessel orbiting one of the three moons they demanded daily progress reports of Asop. Their growing displeasure of him was now beyond apparent. Their once prized commander who kept the trash of Nova Hermes away from them and the other elite was failing miserably. Threats of sending more android forces to completely take over was no longer just a threat, the forces were scheduled to arrive within a week. Everything he worked for, everything he gained and enjoyed in this position was fucking gone overnight. Staring out at the city his blue eyes narrowed sharply. Fine.

"Computer," he waited for the responding beep and the holographic image of the soundwave appear over the empty conference table. "Ready my ship and gather the remaining forces to meet in an hour."

"Amount of remaining forces: three," the emotionless voice of the computer advised him.

Stamping down the surge of rage he looked around wildly for his drink, and remembered that he finished it and smashed it against the window. Running a hand through his disheveled hair, he angrily answered. "Fine, just fucking do it."

Resting both hands against the surface of his desk, Asop let the kernel of a plan grow in his mind liking the idea with each passing second. "Computer," he called out again.

The soundwave image appeared.

"Make a public video address in five," straitening from his desk he pulled at the hem of his double-breasted jacket and ran a straightening hand through his hair as the digital number counted down and the camera bot floated into place. Three, two, one, the light turned red. Looking into the lens he addressed every video feed, social media feed, billboard, and audio feed of Nova Hermes at once. "I know who you are, or should I say _what_ you are and I'm done fucking around," stepping closer to the camera he imagined himself talking to the creature directly, because he knew it was watching and waiting. "You want to fight me?! Is that what you want, you ugly fuck?!" Holding his arms out to the side he smiled into the camera. "Then come and fight me, one on one. Stop hiding like the coward ass cunt you are. I'm going to make you regret ever coming to Nova Hermes." Leaning forward, until just his face showed he sneered at the lens. "We'll see who leaves this planet with a fucking trophy."

Ending the transmission, he turned his back to the bot and stared out into the dark city.

"Computer," he yelled out. "Gather all of my data on the yautja. Everything!"

#

Once Asop's announcement ended Kian stood up from the bed with a rumbling growl that almost seemed excited. Naked, he walked over to his armor sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. His long dreads shifting slightly between his powerful shoulder blades with each step. Watching him grab his gauntlets, Tamara felt her stomach drop with a sickening plunge. This was the moment Kian had been waiting for, the culmination of all his "_work_" here on Nova Hermes. She knew this was what he wanted, but now that it was here it felt very very wrong.

Sitting up in the bed, Tamara pulled the tangled sheet that had been kicked to the bottom of the bed, forgotten at some point in their lovemaking, up around her breasts. Looking to him, she watched the thick muscles under his green scaled skin bunch and move with each movement as she tried to phrase what she desperately wanted to say.

"W-would it m-make you…angry," she took a deep breath and forced herself to continue, "if I begged you n-n-not to go and fight him?"

Turning to look over his shoulder with a whip of his dreads, he focused his burning narrowed gaze on her. "You believe I am weak?" His whispered voice asked dangerously.

Alarmed, she sat up straighter in the bed shaking her head. "N-no, I-I…" she could not get the stuck words out fast enough before he cut her off.

Turning around fully now, he faced her. Still naked save for his arm gauntlets, he ignored his nudity and stood forebodingly in the middle of the room. "Do you doubt me, mate?"

His words cut through her like a hot knife. His accusation combined with her recently acquired title, a title he would never understand how much she cherished, hurt more than she could have ever imagined.

"No, p-please Kian," she pulled herself to her knees and gave him a pleading look. "I d-d-don't doubt you. Never. I-I-I…" she closed her eyes and forced herself to breath before opening her eyes and speaking again. "I just know that a m-man like that would never fight w-with…" she searched her brain for the right word, a word Kian had used. "With honor. I heard that the commander has an i-i- impenetrable shield."

Turning away from her with a snarl which made her jump, Kian resumed putting on his armor. "I will not listen to your doubts," his naturally rough voice made his angry words cut even deeper.

Shrinking away from him, she looked away, doing her best to keep the tears that threatened to fall at bay. Looking around the bed on the floor, she found her underwear and clothes. Grabbing the clothing, she quietly got dressed with him. The silence that hung between them felt like a heavy weight on her heart.

Dressed now, she stood at the edge of her bed and looked out the window to the dead city beyond. The sickening feeling in her stomach would not abate. Even with Kian's anger toward her fear the knot of dread in her stomach would not be overshadowed.

Unwilling to see anymore anger or disappointment from him she continued to stare out her window as she spoke again. "I'm sorry, I j-just…I just have a terrible feeling about all of this."

In full armor, Kian stepped past her and activated the window. A blast of hot humid air rushed into the apartment immediately activating the aircon above. Not turning his head, Kian stared directly ahead.

"You will pack. Be ready to leave when I return."

The deep whispered words should have elated her and they would have last night. But now after seeing the commander's wild expression and cold gleam in his ice blue eyes she couldn't focus on anything other than Kian's fate.

Reaching out, she tentatively touched his shoulder. He did not react. Pushing down the jab of hurt she let her fingers trace the indentions of his rough skin, running lightly over an old scar and praying he wouldn't receive another.

"Be careful."

#

The Red Blade's hangar was located at the top of the building. No longer bustling with life Asop couldn't help but think the vast empty room was a desolate reminder of his hubris. With both hangar doors on either side open hot wind blew through the large empty room, jostling some of the hanging equipment on the walls. Tightening his grip around the heavy pulse blaster hanging from his hand Asop recalled all the mistakes he made handling this situation. He should have seen the clear signs of yautja presence when he received reports of skinned, mutilated bodies hanging from rafters. He shouldn't have dismissed it as a rival faction trying to throw its weight around. Hell, he actually took the new threat as a bit of fun to be had for his bored men. With a sneer he thought of his conversation with the worried counsel as he arrogantly told them not to worry. Inwardly, he had thought this was a golden opportunity; there had been mention of the counsel tossing the idea around for a synthetic android unit to try out. A unit that if worked effectively would have replaced his men for a more cost effective approach. Asop took this opportunity amongst the growing chaos to show the counsel just how nessacary he was. Unfortunately, he underestimated his target. Now here he was standing alone in the empty ruins of his once great city, a city he controlled.

Pulling out his comm device he checked the scanners around the building-nothing. He checked- the status and charge of his personal shield-at one hundred percent. The data made him breathe a little easier. When he was still a marine, he and all the other men and women received very basic training when it came to yautja. All they needed to know was that they were big as fuck, faster than you could imagine, mean as sin, and hunted for the glory of it. If a marine not specifically trained to fight one of the fuckers encountered one make yourself appear to pose no threat: put down your weapon, get on your knees with your hands up in surrender and you just might make it out. Except of course if you are dealing with a female yautja. The lieutenants always laughed when they added that last piece of info. _"If you find yourself against a female yautja, just go ahead and slit your own throat. Those ugly bitches make the male yautja seem like a loveable junkyard dog. They will kill you just for the insult of being alive and in their presence." _

Turning around Asop looked around the empty hangar and stopped, his gut turning to ice at the tall figure standing at the opposite far end. How long had he been standing there? The worthless fucking sensors didn't even go off! Bracing himself, he resisted the urge to check the status of his shield again. It was activated he knew that, there was no need to check again.

Neither one moved for seconds that tortuously dragged by. Looking at the tall, golden armored creature Asop felt the reality of the situation seep past his ego and unwillingly settle into his rapidly beating heart. He was outmatched. The creature was standing across the hangar, nearly thirty feet away, and Asop could see that the motherfucker was huge as fuck.

Goddammit! All this standing around. All of this waiting for the other to make the first move was going to kill him. Asop could tell that the wait had no effect on the masked creature. The green eyes in his mask simply glowed a dull green as he stood perfectly still, staring, and waiting.

Fuck it!

Gripping his heavy pulse blaster tighter in his grip Asop stepped forward. He planned to take another step and then another leading him into a full-blown run, but the quick flick of the creature's wrist stopped Asop's movement with a near stumble. Its right clawed hand which was empty moments ago now held a short spear. Thick terror pooled in his gut at the sight of the weapon. He might not have ever had to fight one of these things before but he knew damn well those spears could get twice as long and were wielded with deadly grace.

The big bastard was toying with him. Though the mask shielded the creature's face he knew it was laughing at him.

Rage flooded through Asop's bloodstream, warming up his panicked muscles again allowing him to take another emboldened step and then another until he was running for the creature. He was going to kill this thing; he was going to be the one that would leave here today with that thing's head on its own spear.

The creature simply stood its ground as Asop ran towards it. In just a few steps, he would be in striking distance of that spear, something that creature was probably banking on. With a smirk, Asop dropped his weight at the last second, just as the spear shot out extending to its full length. Sliding on his side, he slid past the yautja and aimed up and fired. Pivoting away at the last moment the yautja avoided the red blast of the weapon and spun his spear with one hand towards his target. The whirling serrated spear hit Asop's shield with a sparking crash, briefly illuminating the orange shield making it visible to both of them. Asop grinned. Stepping back the yautja deepened his stance and spun the spear with martial precision, this time switching it between two hands. With even more speed and more energy behind the oncoming blow, Asop didn't doubt his shield would hold but did not want to risk the rocking impact of the blow from the massive creature swinging it. What was it thinking? By now it had to know Asop was using a shield made of digitally weaved Iridium, a substance than was nearly indestructible. The creature was playing at something, Asop could feel it. Pushing himself backward, Asop leapt away as the yautja swung again with its spear.

"Time to end this big guy," Asop snarled as he hit the command on his comm unit strapped to his hip.

Along the edges of the hangar twenty androids dropped down from the room where they were waiting to standing position, guns out and aiming at the creature.

Asop smiled as the creature's dreads swung around his shoulders as it looked on either side of the open hangar to see it was surrounded. Lifting its huge arm, the creature's claws clicked at something on its gauntlet just as Asop hit the button again on his comm unit commanding the androids to fire.

Nothing happened.

Now it was his turn to look around in shock. Asop couldn't hear anything over his crashing pulse in his ears as he stared at all twenty of the androids standing perfectly still, frozen in place.

A deep clicking noise filled the air. The rapid guttaral sound made Asop's blood run cold. This time he knew without a doubt the creature was laughing at him.

Tossing its head with predatory arrogance, the yautja's black dreads whipped through the air as the creature deepened its stance yet again. Asop's hands began to shake. One, two, three powerful lunging steps eating up the distance between them the creature ran at him raising its spear. Bracing himself, Asop let the force of the blow crash against his shield. The impact of it nearly pushed him to his knees, but he remained standing and outstretched his gun hand holding the blaster. The shield was not designed to be used while firing but the creature expected him to be on the defense the offensive blow to its exposed flank was Asop's best chance.

The crushing grip had shot out onto his wrist from nowhere. A scream ripped from his lips as he watched the large hand crush through his combat suit and down to his bones. With leverage now, the yautja shifted his weight and pulled Asop off of his feet and into the air tossing him several feet away. Falling back onto the metal floor was more painful than the resonating pain in his, most likely broken, wrist. Coughing, Asop swallowed and ignored the coppery taste of blood as he pushed his chest off the ground just in time to see the gold armored creature move. Asop felt the shaking force of the creature's heavy footfalls as it ran towards him on the ground. Bracing himself, Asop didn't bother going for his blaster that had re-magnetized to his hip during the throw. Pushing himself onto his back, with his hands braced on the ground Asop winced as the yautja brought the side of its spear down with god like force against his shield. Asop nearly wilted in relief at the sight of his shield glowing a bright orange at the impact. The yautja stepped back and cocked his head slightly to the side before bringing his spear up again, this time letting it drag against the curving outline of the barrier, as if examining it.

Gathering himself, Asop used the creature's moment of inspection and stood back up facing him directly. Spinning the spear with artful precision in one hand, the yautja caught the end of it in his other hand and changed his stance for another attack. Asop was done with the games, he needed to end this shit now.

"Computer bring up the live footage of team six," the only remaining team, Asop thought bitterly.

Digitally constructing itself in the middle of the open hangar, the screen showed three Red Blade Officers standing in an apartment hallway just outside of a closed door. Asop could have sworn he watched the yautja stiffen at the sight, but he couldn't be sure if it was just his desperate hope or not.

"I am happy to inform you, that you did make a mistake during your illustrious time here," he made sure to inject every drop of cruelty and hatred he could in his tone. He wanted this mutated space crab to know he fucked with the wrong one. "Other than you thinking you can kill me, of course. You got sloppy during your little killing sessions. You left a trail of bodies that didn't fit your pattern. So, I started looking and scouring the footage and do you know what I found?" The creature was still staring at the screen, and Asop could feel his shaken confidence in this battle restore itself. He had its attention, which meant his ace in the hole was right on target. "I found that each an every one of those deaths that seemed to veer off your path was connected to footage of a woman." And not just any woman, Asop thought with a smile. A fucking whore, the big bad space hunter had not only come to Nova Hermes for a hunt he came for some cunt as well. If everything wasn't so fucked, if Asop had the resources or even the time he would have made the little bitch suffer. He would have dragged this revenge out so good and so long that the yautja would have begged him to kill him by the time he was through with her. But he didn't and this would have to do.

"Now," he shouted into his mic.

Opening the door, the footage showed the girl turn around with a surprised whirl holding what looked like clothes in her hand. Packing maybe? Asop smiled even bigger at that revelation as his men tossed two grenades through the door.

"Burn bitch," one of his men yelled out before shutting and sealing the door. Activating the door's viewfinder in reverse he turned and winked to the camera as he focused it on the scene inside the apartment. The seconds slowed beautifully as her wide eyes looked at the frags. She turned and jumped over her bed as her scream pierced the air just before the explosion. The footage went black.

"Yeah that's right motherfucker, you think I didn't know. I know everything on my goddamn planet. So, what are you going to do," he yelled at the creature who hadn't moved a muscle, "you gonna let your little whore burn or try and fail at killing me," he hoped the damn thing would go to her, he prayed for it now. Those frags were low level but they would definitely cause some major knockback and were designed to continuously burn for up to an hour. These things were said to have some sort of high honor code, so surely that meant whore or not he would save his little slut from a slow burning death in a metal box. Because if the piece of alien shit did go for her, Asop was going to run to his ship. Fuck his men and fuck this planet, it was never going to be the same anyways. Most of the citizens that escaped to the surrounding space stations were dying anyways, a terminal virus spreading rapidly through the overpacked stations.

"Come on!" Asop shouted, at the motionless creature who was still staring out to where the image was. "What are you gonna…"

The creature's sudden deafening roar shook the ground beneath him as it finally made its move. Black dreads whipped through the air as it turned. It was so fast. So much faster than before, faster than Asop could have ever expected. It had fought him with inhuman speed earlier, but now Asop knew it had been just toying with him, humoring him. No, he realized, testing him—testing his shield. The image of the yautja's movement replayed itself in his head over and over again, his dying brain having no other thing to focus on. With a feral roar the creature had pulled back his arm and pivoted perfectly on the balls of his feet before hurling the spear in his hand like a javelin. In one blink the spear was in the creature's hand and in another it was piercing through Asop's shield with little to no resistance backed by a god-like force his suit's technology could not account for.

Looking down, Asop's body shuddered as he witnessed the damage of the fatal blow through his gut. His energy seeped swiftly from his body and he dropped to his knees. This was it, the thought floated singularly and without interruption through his mind. He could couldn't believe it. Angrily, he looked up but the anger dissipated to a stark lonely terror when he realized he was alone. The yautja was gone. Asop's vision clouded and the world spun around him as he pitched forward letting out a final grunt as the weight of his body embedded the serrated spear further into his gut, tearing at his organs. Staring at the ground unseeingly, Asop took his last breath.

#

Kneeling in her open window, Tamara gripped the edges of the window with a painful grip as she coughed through the billowing smoke. Flames licked at her skin, searing at any exposed skin and searing at the cheap fabric of her clothing. The fire in her apartment was steadily growing, the metal room turning into a giant oven. Even the metal rim of the window's frame was growing hot beneath her hand. Tears that rolled from her eyes dried up almost immediately at the never-ending blast of heat that rushed around her towards the rush of oxygen from the open window making her eyes burn. Behind her she could feel the endless drop of the city below. The bridge to the next level wasn't close enough to her window for her to land on, meaning she would most likely freefall for an excruciating few seconds before eventually landing dead on a criss-crossing diamond-nite bridge.

The flames grew closer, licking at the bottom of her shoes. She could feel the heat pushing through the cheap plastic soles. Leaning her head on her singed hands clutching the window sill she thought of Kian and his promise to take her to his planet. The bed, with her half-packed bag was on fire now, simply a large square frame of fire. Somehow, she always knew she would never leave this planet. From the moment she got here she had taken all the shit this hell-hole of a planet threw at her, always just blindly accepting it. She lost her dreams here, her dignity, and now she was going to lose her life.

Now they wanted her to burn, she couldn't help but recall the cruel faces of the Red Blade officers at her door. She wouldn't give them that. This planet has already stolen so much from her, she refused to give it anymore of her suffering.

Clenching her burning eyes together, Tamara would at least dictate her own death. Feeling the flames lick over her shoe and to her legs, she let go with a cry-falling backward into the nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

Pain exploded through Tamara's ribs and chest with an overwhelming intensity, she prayed it would kill her immediately. Instead she suffered every nuance of the blinding pain at its impact. Crying out she opened her eyes against every cell in her body screaming at her to keep them closed and grasped blindly at the iron-like pressure crushing her midsection. The blur of red neon-lights and the dark shapes of colossal buildings whooshing by made her realize just as her hand gripped at the scaled skin pressed against her midsection that the blur of images were going in the wrong direction. The facts poured into her traumatized mind in a single file line: she was being held, she was no longer free falling to the ground, Kian had come back and he had saved her.

Kian! She wanted to speak his name, to call out or say anything but the sudden crushing force of his arm gripping her tightened as air blasted past her face. She felt his abrupt groan of pain vibrate through her body as he tried to take the brunt of the sudden impact that hit them both—but it wasn't enough. Pain like nothing she could ever begin to comprehend enveloped her fully and at once, giving her just a taste of its torture before releasing her into the sweet blissful nothingness she had prayed for.

With one clawed hand and both feet embedded into the side of the glass building, Kian ignored the pain of the lacerations as he looked down at his unconscious mate. Anger, brighter and more explosive than he had ever experienced in all his years raged through him at the sight of her damaged limp body dangling in his arms. With just a glance he could see the multitude of burns on her body and tried not to imagine what she must have endured before she casted herself from her window. Curling his arm upward slowly, he easily hefted her slight weight and brought her closer to him. The urge to hold her close as possible was futile to try and ignore. Something deep within him had roared with gut wrenching fury to run, to jump, to push himself faster across the city back to her place when he left the commander dead from his spear. Each second it took was like the scraping of his bones, hollowing him inside and out. He had to get to her, it was the only thought cycling through his head. Kian had got there just as he looked up to see the small familiar figure falling through the empty air. His body reacted without the need of his mind. Propelling himself forward, he slammed into her just in time, just before he nearly lost everything.

Looking up from her tear-stained sleeping face towards the next floor above them, Kian scanned the properties of the glass. His instruments calculated the weakest point in the glass to strike to gain him entrance. Once inside he would call for his ship and he and his mate would leave this planet. Carefully, Kian climbed.

#

Images of yautja flashed across Tamara's mind—or were they more than just her imaginings? She could not be sure. Yautja of all shapes and sizes walked past her as if she wasn't even there—or didn't exist, they just walked tall and proud giving no indication of her presence. Opening her mouth, she tried to speak but nothing came out. She couldn't understand it. Why couldn't she speak? Why did she feel so disconnected from herself and the rest of the world? She wanted to move, she wanted to wave and scream at the proud yautja that passed her by but her body wouldn't respond. It was if she was trapped in a dream. So very tired now, she closed her eyes as she sent a silent prayer to Kian wherever he may be, she needed him to find her. Because if this was a dream shouldn't he be here with her?

#

Kian's claws clicked against the screen as he checked the readouts of the sarcophagus. Two more days. In two days, all of Tamara's wounds should be healed. Looking at the large coffin-like structure he stared at her, she was floating peacefully inside the machine suspended in a blue healing gel. With burns covering over thirty percent of her body in various stages of degrees, she was dehydrated, and underweight.

The sliding sound of the medical bay's door opening interrupted his thoughts. Closing out the screen, Kian turned and faced the familiar huntress. Like him, she was similar in many ways from her markings to her green eyes. Crossing her arms over her breast plate of armor she gave him a look that would have adverted the gaze of any other hunter.

Not in the mood for her intimidation games, Kian folded his arms over his chest and gave the female yautja a tired stare. "What business do you have here Kinrya?"

"Is not all of Carnak's business my business?" Her tone was quiet and subtle, walking the line of threatening.

Stepping closer to her, Kian stopped inches away from the huntress. She was shorter than him, but that meant nothing. She was one of the most powerful females on all of Carnak. Once he had seen the huntress kill a rogue yautja while simultaneously battling two sentinel xenomorphs. Her lethal prowess was unmatched on Carnak and her quick temper was legendary. But Kian did not care, he knew very well of Kinrya's disgust towards humans and he did not appreciate her current presence.

"Let me be clear Kinrya," unfolding his arms Kian prepared himself for the huntress's volatile reaction to his oncoming words. "I know of your opinion regarding humans and you will not harm my mate."

"You think me weak enough to have need to kill this insignificant human?!" Pointing one long curving black claw beyond him at his mate, her eyes shifted from his to the sarcophagus behind him and back to his with brightened satisfaction.

An alarm blared, high and shrill from the monitoring screen. Turning around Kian's eyes met the round brown eyes of his mate. Scared and confused, her eyes bounced between him and Kinrya.

"It seems she is distressed, Kian," Kinrya provoked calmly while standing closer now than she was before. Kian could feel her inches away from his back. "Should I command you to fight me here and now? Could she handle the stress of seeing her mate fight inches away from her?" She asked cruelly, enjoying the turmoil of confusion in his mate's eyes as she watched them both.

Angered now, Kian whirled on the balls of his feet and faced the huntress, the urge to wrap his hands around her throat was tempting.

"Kinrya," he growled warningly. His patience was up, he would fight her if she continued this aggravation any further and the outcome would be something neither of them wanted.

Without a trace of emotion in her eyes to let him know what she was thinking, Kinrya took a step back before turning around completley. Her long dreads whipping around to hit him in the face, a purposeful act of insult. Saying nothing, the huntress left him alone in the medical bay.

Waiting a few seconds, to be sure of no deceit, Kian finally turned back to his mate. Silently, she lifted a hand to the thick glass that separated them. Kian could see the strain around her eyes at the cost of the simple movement. Resting his own hand against the glass he used his other to type a few commands into the data pad on the wall next to him. At the prompt the wall behind him opened. Kian did not take his eyes off Tamara's as they shifted from him to the unfolding scene behind him. An ocean of green as far as the eye could see lit by the golden light of the sun shined back in her widening eyes as she stared at the top of the jungle canopy. Her smile was unlike any she had ever given him before, it was wide an uplifting and it filled him with a satisfaction Kian was unprepared to feel.

This look in her eyes, this warmth she stared back at him with. He knew what it was, he knew of the label humans attached to it. It was something yautja consciously refuted. The emotion had no value, it was only ever weakness. As young whelps they were taught that it could take a warrior to their knees, that it stripped away all pride an honor and made one illogical in the face of this weakness. But Kian did not feel this way now, he never felt more sure of himself than knowing this small human with the odd way of speaking would be at his side from now on.

Leaning his head against the glass, he allowed the dangerous emotion to fester deeper within him. If this emotion called love really did have this capability of destruction then he would happily meet it head on in battle.

#

"You will sleep here with me," Kian explained, pointing to the massive bed on the other side of the metal yurt.

With a black gel like mattress pad the bed sat stark and empty of even a shred of covering. Tamara could only assume it because of the humid heat of Carnak's planet-wide jungle. Pulling self-consciously at her form fitting suit she tried not to scowl up at Kian. Since she understandably had no time to grab her bag before falling to her death on Nova Hermes, the only clothes she had to her name were burnt and bloody. Seeing to her need for attire before leaving the yautja palace to travel to his home deep in the woods, Kian had placed four gold bands on her body. One band for each wrist and one for each ankle. With a few discreet clicks to the hidden settings she was instantly covered in a black form fitting onesie. She loathed its very existence. She swore she had worn more conservative clothes as her time as a nude dancer.

Seeing that he wasn't going to say any more about their home, Tamara paused and looked around the circular room again with a blink. It was wide and spacious and practically walled in windows that appeared like solid black metal from the outside but it was absolutely empty. There was a kitchen area, a bathroom, and a bed—that was it.

"Kian?" She began gently, not quite sure where to starts first: the lack of walls or the furniture besides the bed. An image of Kian sitting cross-legged comfortably on her floor back on Nova Hermes sprung to mind. Tamara sighed, walls it was then. Turning back to Kian she looked up and waited for his rumbling noise of acknowledgment before continuing. "In the future, with children," she added, feeling her face heat at the mention of children. "H-how will we have any sort of privacy?"

Raising both hands to his mask, she heard the compressed air as the hoses disconnected from his armor releasing the mask from his face. Removing the mask, he grasped it with one hand and held it to the nearby wall. As if magnetized the helmet stuck to it with an audible clink. Reaching for the spot on his shoulder armor, where she knew there was a clamp, Kian's green eyes darkened as he unlatched the first clamp. "Are you eager for me to seed you, mate?"

Desire, vibrant and hot welled inside of her as she realized what he intended. Taking a step backward she gave him a coy smile. "Well if we are to go by your s-s-sister's orders I am to "breed" with h-haste."

The day after she was released from the healing sarcophagus both her and Kian were told that they had been summoned to the palace throne room. Tamara had been all nerves at the prospect of meeting the yautja leader while Kian silently seethed at her side. Sitting atop the decorated throne was the familiar green scaled huntress she saw taking to Kian while she was healing. Thousands of alien skulls piled intricately into a large throne shined dully in the dimly lit great room. Tamara could see the glow of eyes dotting the darkness here and there as curious hunters stood veiled in the shadows watching Kian escort his human towards the revered huntress. Without preamble the huntress queen pointed a wicked claw directly at Tamara as she informed Kian of her news.

_"Your decision of a human mate is not completely without use, brother. The human DNA spliced into our genes at gestation seems to have only one use-the agility to breed with her kind. I want you to breed with her Kian and produce more yautja. I want to see for myself the worth of this hybrid union our brethren on Ojibwe are so taken with."_

Tossing his head back, his thick black dreads sliced through the air in anger. "You will ignore her," he growled, snatching off his shoulder armor and letting it fall with a hard clank against the metal floor.

Feeling the bed hit the back of her knees, Tamara carefully crawled onto the bed backwards never taking her eyes off the approaching hunter. "That would be hard s-since she is the leader of Carnak and your sister."

"Nonetheless, my mate. You will listen to only me and my wants." With all of his armor removed he stood over her with unmistakable arrogance dressed only in a black leather loin cloth.

"And what is it that you want?" Laying down on the bed, Tamara sighed at the feeling of the mattress sinking on either side of her as his massive body crawled above her.

Amusement glittered in his bright green eyes as he reached down and snatched off loin cloth. Reaching for her wrist, his claws tapped delicately against the metal band on her wrist just before they both heard the winding zip of the body-hugging fabric reel back into its invisible confines leaving her completely naked underneath him

"Just this once, my mate, my desires coincide with my sister."

Laughing, Tamara spread her arms open and welcomed him closer. Sunlight bathed them as they moved as one. Her cries were lost somewhere in the unruly tangle of vines and overlapping tree tops of the jungle around them. With each surging thrust of his hips Tamara held onto his thick muscled back tighter. She never wanted to let go, she wanted to feel this moment forever—the moment where all her dreams came true.

Fin


End file.
